Summary: After Cecil the Lion was killed during a trophy hunt last summer, Congress proposed the CECIL Act. The CECIL Act has the potential to create a new layer of protection for candidate species. The study which is being requested as part of this bill may help determine whether or not trophy hunting actually benefits endangered species conservation.
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By Elizabeth Smith
After Cecil the Lion was killed last summer, the Conserving Ecosystems by Ceasing the Importation of Large Animal Trophies Act (H.R. 3526, also known as the CECIL Act) was proposed by members of Congress. The namesake of this bill is a lion who was well known by many tourists. This thirteen year-old lion lived in
Ed Hetherington Photography
Zimbabwe on the Hwange National Park and was part of an Oxford University study. A dentist from the United States, Dr. Walter Palmer, paid to go on a trophy hunt in July, 2015. During the hunt, Dr. Palmer shot and killed Cecil. Although the dentist thought it was a legal hunt, Zimbabwe officials say that this trophy hunt was illegally conducted. This became a huge story in the media because of the love which tourists had for Cecil. This event provided the impetus for Congress to propose the CECIL Act , which includes an amendment to the Endangered Species Act and a government-funded study on the pros and cons of trophy hunting.
Candidate Species
The purpose of the amendment is to change which species the importation and exportation provision of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) protects. Endangered and threatened fish and wildlife, which are defined under section 4 of the ESA, would still be protected. While the CECIL Act would not change the protections afforded to endangered and threatened species, it would extend this protection to species which are proposed for listing as endangered or threatened under the ESA. These species are also known as ” candidate” species. This provision would be added to Section 9 of the ESA, replacing the current language of section 1538(a)(1) “(A) import any such species into, or export any such species from the United States” with “(A) for any such species listed, or proposed to be listed, under section 4, import the species into, or export the species from, the United States.”
(Candidate species Arizona Treefrog (Hyla wrightorum)) http://www.thehibbitts.net/troy/photo/frogs/h.wrightorum.htm
By adding the provision about species proposed to be listed, this law would increase the number of species being protected by the ESA’s importation and exportation provision. Including these candidate species on the list of species protected by the above provision may make it more challenging for Americans to trophy hunt. By supplementing the current provision in the ESA with the one proposed in the bill, Congress would be filling a gap in the species protection process which has left candidate species without much protection since the ESA was enacted. This bill gives an opportunity for species which may be listed to have protection during the listing process. This would also be beneficial to the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) because these agencies would have time to analyze whether a proposed species should be listed, instead of rushing to list a species out of fear that it will become more critically endangered or extinct while the agencies decide if listing is appropriate.
(Candidate species Puerto Rico Harlequin Butterfly (Atlantea tulita)) http://www.puertohermina.org/ph/2013/03/24/majestuoso-vuelo-de-la-mariposa-quebradillana-por-los-acantilados/
Because of the potential benefits the CECIL Act may have for candidate species, it shares some goals with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ( CITES ). One of these shared goals is to ensure the protection of a species that might not be currently threatened with extinction by limiting how much the species is traded. The CECIL Act’s ESA provision would enhance the way that the U.S. implements CITES. If adopted, the CECIL Act should not be a violation of international trade laws because it is merely extending protection to another group of species which is still potentially vulnerable. CITES sets out to preserve the endangered species on the planet by regulating the trade of their parts. The CECIL Act would help meet those same goals that CITES sets forth in Article II. Further international support comes from many international airlines from a variety of countries (including South Africa and the U.A.E.) that voluntarily banned the transportation of certain species on flights. The CECIL Act’s requiring of these bans may raise awareness about the importance of protecting candidate species as well as endangered species.
Trophy Hunting
The CECIL Act also requires a Government Accountability Office study which analyzes “the effectiveness of trophy hunting in supporting international wildlife conservation efforts.” The debate about whether trophy hunting is effective or not has been going on for a long time and conservationists are on both sides of the argument.
Rex Shutterstock
Large non-profit organizations focused on species conservation, such as World Wildlife Fund (WWF), promote potential benefits from trophy hunting as part of a holistic approach. WWF is one of the leading organizations in species conservation across the world, which is possibly why so many people have asked the organization why it supports trophy hunting in some of its programs. The response is that the organization is “opposed to all forms of hunting that threaten species or habitat sustainability.” However, WWF says that “in some situations the only way to protect wildlife populations is ensuring that it’s in the interests of the local community to do so.” This means that in some situations, such as Namibia, there may need to be trophy hunting to ensure that the local community’s interest is in the preservation of the species.
Despite the inclusion of trophy hunting in the nature reserve, the articles written about the Namibia wildlife management plan focus much more on the benefits of ecotourism than the benefits of trophy hunting. One article states that the income of rural areas surrounding wildlife habitat has increased from practically nothing to over $6 million annually, “the majority of which is generated from tourism activities.” If the true economic benefits are coming from the ecotourism, which ranges from safaris to lodge stays, then perhaps trophy hunting no longer needs to be accepted as a way to ensure that conserving wildlife is in the best interest of the community. With safaris in Namibia starting at $11,895, perhaps these partially community-owned conservancies no longer need trophy hunting to supplement their budget.
There are reasons to cease trophy hunting other than no longer needing the fees from the hunters to sustain the nature reserves. Many conservationists argue that the funds from trophy hunting do not actually benefit the local communities or the reserves in a meaningful way. There are several confirmed examples of people in the hunting region being paid money to ignore the fact that the hunt is being conducted illegally. Of the whole fee that the hunters pay, “only a small portion of this is transferred to the [local] citizenry.” Some studies estimate that only approximately 3% of the fees paid go to local communities and assist conservation efforts. If the CECIL Act is passed, hopefully the study will help settle the controversy about the pros and cons of trophy hunting.
Enacting the CECIL Act
Without political support, despite the possible good the CECIL Act could create, the amendment will not be successful. An interesting political circumstance surrounding CECIL (H.R.3448) is that it was proposed on August 8, 2015 by eight sponsors, again on September 8, 2015 by one representative from Texas, and then finally on September 16, 2015 there were thirty-five total sponsors of the bill (H.R.3526). This may show that there was so much political support for the CECIL Act that many representatives decided they wanted to sponsor the bill. If the bill is passed, then these representatives can show their constituents that they are improving the situation for endangered species around the globe. Since the bill’s September 16 introduction, the bill has been referred to the House Ways and Means, Foreign Affairs, and Natural Resources committees. The lack of progress may not necessarily be due to a lack of public support. However, govtrack.us estimates that the CECIL Act only has a 7% chance of passing through committee and a 1% chance of being enacted based on the statistics of bills which were able to be passed between 2013 and 2015.
It could be difficult to implement the CECIL Act because it will require ensuring that even more animals are not exported out of or imported into the United States. It will take more time for the officials who search the goods being shipped to recognize the candidate species, especially when the list is often changing. Officials in charge of making sure that animal parts do not travel in or out of the U.S. will need to be able to access all forms of shipping and be able to identify the bodies and body parts of candidate species. The type of shipping may range from airplanes to cargo ships, which are the most common forms of transporting trophy animals. Private companies will need to comply for the implementation to be successful. While some airlines have already voluntarily refused to transport trophy animals, it will be necessary for other international companies to participate in this ban on shipping so that the goals of the CECIL Act will be met.
Some of the countries in which trophy hunting continues may become angry with the U.S. for deterring trophy hunters from coming to their countries. However, several countries in which trophy hunting occurs have already banned the exportation of some species, which means that there may not be as much political backlash. Constituents from the U.S. have shown that, at least in the case of Cecil the Lion, they care very much about endangered species protection. There are, after all, over 33,000 “likes” on Cecil the Lion’s Facebook page. With a name like the CECIL Act and the purpose this bill purports, it should have enough political support in the United States.
This bill has the potential to create a new layer of protection for candidate species. The study, which is being requested as part of this bill may help determine whether trophy hunting actually benefits endangered species conservation. The CECIL Act passing would have a good impact on candidate species and it could shed some light on an issue that has divided conservationists for years.
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Elizabeth D. Smith is pursuing her J.D. and Master’s in Environmental Law and Policy at Vermont Law School. She expects to graduate in May 2017 and plans to work at an international nonprofit in the Washington, D.C. area. While at VLS, Elizabeth has been involved in extracurricular activities and has become part in the South Royalton community through the work of the Red Door Church. She is currently a Staff Editor on VJEL and was recently elected to be a Symposium Editor for the Volume 18 Symposium on the Endangered Species Act. Her passion is protecting endangered species, especially Siberian Tigers. Elizabeth co-authored a paper while she was an undergraduate student at Slippery Rock University and she published a blog post when she was a student of Professor David Cassuto. She gives special thanks to her grandparents for encouraging her educational pursuits and to Professor Pat Parenteau for supporting her relentless inquiry into the plight of big cats everywhere.
Elizabeth D. Smith is pursuing her J.D. and Master’s in Environmental Law and Policy at Vermont Law School. She expects to graduate in May 2017 and plans to work at an international nonprofit in the Washington, D.C. area. While at VLS, Elizabeth has been involved in extracurricular activities and has become part in the South Royalton community through the work of the Red Door Church. She is currently a Staff Editor on VJEL and was recently elected to be a Symposium Editor for the Volume 18 Symposium on the Endangered Species Act. Her passion is protecting endangered species, especially Siberian Tigers. Elizabeth co-authored a paper while she was an undergraduate student at Slippery Rock University and she published a blog post when she was a student of Professor David Cassuto. She gives special thanks to her grandparents for encouraging her educational pursuits and to Professor Pat Parenteau for supporting her relentless inquiry into the plight of big cats everywhere.
The post You’re Gonna Hear Me Roar: How the Tragic Death of One Lion May Provide Protection for Candidate Endangered Species and Answer Controversial Questions about Trophy Hunting appeared first on Vermont Journal of Environmental Law.