Protesters to Call On U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Add Lions to Endangered Species List

PETA Will Call for a Ban on ‘Trophy’ Imports in the Wake of Cecil the Lion’s Death

For Immediate Release:
August 4, 2015

Contact:
Shakira Croce 202-483-7382

Demonstrators bearing signs reading, “My Head Belongs on My Shoulders, Not on Your Wall,” will gather in front of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and call on the agency to take steps to end cruel trophy hunting by listing lions as a threatened species and by banning the importation of their heads, tails, and skins into the U.S. This move would help prevent the slaughter of lions like Cecil, who was recently shot with an arrow and left to suffer for 40 hours before being tracked, shot, skinned, and decapitated by Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer and his hunting party.

Where:           1849 C Street N.W., between 18th and 19th streets, Washington

When:             Wednesday, August 5, 12 p.m.

“All wild animals are loved by their mates and offspring, but to hunters like Palmer, they’re just targets to slaughter and hang on the wall,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Trophy hunters will continue to devastate lion families, harm the natural balance that these animals provide, and hurt the economies of African localities if lions aren’t put on the endangered species list—and that’s why PETA is calling on federal authorities to take action now.”

Lion populations are rapidly declining in Africa. PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—encourages caring people to join the call for federal authorities to issue an order allowing new protections for these animals.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.