Blumenthal, Menendez, Booker, Cardin Announce CECIL Animal Trophies Act to Disincentivize Trophy Killings

(Hartford, CT) –  U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today announced that he is joining with Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) to introduce the Conserving Ecosystems by Ceasing the Importation of Large (CECIL) Animal Trophies Act to curb the sport killing of species that are proposed to be listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

The CECIL Animal Trophies Act is named after an African lion who was allegedly lured outside of a National Park in Zimbabwe earlier this week, shot with an arrow, and tracked for 40 hours while injured before being shot.

“The hunting and poaching of endangered species is a reprehensible and repugnant act,” said Blumenthal. “The death of this beloved lion was a preventable tragedy that demonstrates the urgent need to protect precious – and all too often vulnerable – wildlife. We cannot continue to allow innocent animals to be threatened by trophy killing – we must ensure that generations to come can experience and enjoy everything nature has to offer. I am proud to join my colleagues on this measure that will provide critical protections to animals across the globe.”

Last year, The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed listing the African Lion as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in October 2014, but has yet to finalize any protections.  The CECIL Animals Trophies Act would extend the import and export protections for a species listed under the Endangered Species Act to those that have been proposed for listing, thereby prohibiting the import of any trophies gleaned from Cecil’s death without explicitly obtaining a permit from the Secretary of the Interior.

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