Future for Lions, Future for Hunting
By: Joshua Jones
Safari Club International (SCI) has been a long-time supporter of all of us who call ourselves hunters
and our right to continue this heritage. Not only does SCI stand up for us hunters, they also work to defend the
wildlife we all love. But recently the Humane
Society of the United States (HSUS) along with
several other anti-hunting groups have banned
together to attack the legal hunting of lions in
Africa by using false information to manipulate
the emotions of an unknowing public. If these
groups win they will effectively eliminate lion
hunting thus taking away the value of lions to
the native peoples of Africa, which will likely end in the eradication of lions from Africa. This is why SCI has
teamed up with other foundations such as the Mozambican Conservation Organization (MCO) to defend lions
as a species and as a valued hunting trophy.
Recently the HSUS and its partners have moved to list the African Lion as endangered through the U.S.
endangered species act. They have also approached the U.S. Fish and Wildlife to ban the importation of legally
harvested lion parts into the United States. As 90% of all lions are hunted by American sportsmen this would
effectively eliminate the sport hunting of lions. These groups hope that they can mislead the public with false
information about how sport hunters have almost pushed lions to the brink of extinction and will in fact do so if
the sport hunting of lions is not stopped. However the real threat to lions in Africa is not legal hunters but
instead the real threat to lions is from illegal killing by the local people and from poachers.
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