Lions Left Behind

As CITES CoP17 closes in Johannesburg, South Africa, the African Wildlife Foundation applauds the parties for their votes in accordance with our recommendations in all but one instance – the African lion.

Last night, the 182 countries at the summit failed to reach agreement on a complete ban to protect African lions from global trade. A compromise was reached banning the trade in bones, teeth, and claws.

“Viewed properly across their entire range, lions are in very serious decline and AWF deeply regrets the inability of the CITES conference to reach consensus to list them on Appendix I,” said Patrick Bergin, AWF CEO.

AWF is hopeful that the zero quotas assigned will have almost the same practical effect in the short-term until the issue can be revisited at the 2018 Conference of the Parties in Sri Lanka.

In the interim, we strongly urge countries on the continent to unite to take immediate steps to protect the continental pride and to ensure the future of this iconic species for generations to come.