Conservation

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 588.

Unit 2

1. Look at the pictures. Choose one and discuss in group what thoughts it provokes.

2. (a) Read the text about an almost extinct African lion and decide in groups which of the options offered is true or false. Correct the false ones.

African lion may be added to U.S. endangered species list to curb trophy hunters
by John Platt

A coalition of conservation groups filed a petition Tuesday to list the African lion (Panthera leo) as a ¹protected species under the U.S. ²Endangered Species Act (ESA), citing the American appetite for sports hunting and lion products—such as lion-skin rugs—as major factors in the big cat's ³decline.

The petition was filed by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Humane Society International (HSI), Born Free USA, Born Free Foundation and Defenders of Wildlife.

"The king of the jungle is ⁴heading toward extinction, and yet Americans continue to kill lions for sport," Jeff Flocken, IFAW's Washington, D.C., office director, said in a prepared statement. "Our nation is responsible for importing over half of all lions brought home by trophy hunters each year. The African lion is in real trouble, and it is time for this senseless killing and unsustainable practice to stop."

Although lions are difficult to count, populations are estimated to have dropped nearly 50 percent in the past three decades, mainly due to ⁵unsustainable hunting. Other threats include ⁶habitat loss, disease, the bushmeat trade, use of lion parts in traditional African medicine, and ⁷retaliatory killings for livestock killed by lions. Current estimates range from 23,000 to 40,000 lions left in Africa, down from an estimated 75,800 in 1980.

According to the groups' petition, at least 5,663 wild lions were traded internationally for ⁸recreational trophy hunting purposes between 1998 and 2008, with 64 percent of those trophies being imported into the U.S.

"Because of their evolutionary and biological behaviors, trophy hunting is particularly bad for lions," Flocken said at a press conference on Tuesday. Among the cats, trophy hunters tend ⁹to target the large, visually striking male pack leaders. The death of a leader leaves a pack unstable, resulting in younger males fighting and often ¹⁰killing each other for dominance. The new ¹¹top male often also ends up killing all of the pack's cubs ¹²to preserve his genetic dominance, and some females may die trying ¹³to protect their offspring. "The countries that allow hunting have the worst ¹⁴drops in lion populations," Flocken said.

Adding lions to the list of species protected by the ESA would create ¹⁵a ban on the import of hunting trophies. This would "hopefully reduce the threat to lions by eliminating the incentive of bringing back a trophy," Flocken said. Listing the species would also prohibit the sale of commercially traded lion parts such as skins, claws and skulls, which can sell for thousands of dollars each.

ESA protection would further help lions by ¹⁶raising awareness of their plight, said Bob Irvin, senior vice president for conservation programs at Defenders of Wildlife. "Without the Endangered Species Act, the very symbol of African wildlife could disappear forever," he said.

Americans are hardly the only factor ¹⁷pushing lions toward extinction. Africa's human population is growing quickly, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where it could hit 1.75 billion by 2050. This ¹⁸puts enormous pressure on lions' habitat, which has already shrunk to less than a quarter of its historic range. It will also fuel further human–lion conflicts, with lions perceived as dangers to safety and prosperity, much the same way wolves are often seen in the U.S.

The U.S. Secretary of the Interior now has 90 days to assess whether ¹⁹listing lions under the ESA may be warranted, 12 months to decide whether to propose listing, and then another 12 months to make a final decision.

Asiatic lions (P. l. persica) are already protected under the ESA. Only about 400 of that particular subspecies ²⁰remain the wild, all living in a single forest in India.

1. The sports hunting trophy for an African lion is mainly a skin-rug.
2. Americans bring home about a third of all hunted lions.
3. Uncontrolled hunting is the cause of dropping the lion population by half.
4. Retaliatory killing is hunting lions to reduce the range of livestock killed by them.
5. Targeting the female pack leaders is the most dangerous hunting practice for lions.
6. Female lions die protecting their genetic dominance.
7. Commercially distributed parts of lion's bodies may in bulk cost as much as thousands of dollars.
8. African population growth threats to lions as the latter are considered harmful for the society.
9. Listing lions under the ESA has been confirmed.
10. Asiatic lions live single in Indian forests.

(b). Continue working in groups. Put your heads together and discuss why Americans, not Africans, rose an alarm about lion's possible extinction? Brainstorm at least three arguments the African authorities might find to keep recreational trophy hunting lions. Share with other groups.

(c) Look through the highlighted words and match their number with an equivalent:

___ diminishing number of heads

___ shrink the area of living

___ fighting for leadership

___ hunting for leisure

___ animal species prohibited for hunting

___ live one's natural life (for animals)

___ destroying natural living conditions

___ the masculine animal heading the pack

___ making the trouble with somebody public

___ under the threat of disappearing as a species

___ to hunt the heading masculine animal

___ to defend the cubs

___ included in the list of Endangered Species Act

___ hunting for the predators which harm livestock

___ hunting without foreseeing the consequences

___ prohibition to take the hunting trophies abroad

___ a legal doc enlisting animals which may disappear

___ to stay the strongest genetic ancestor

___ die out

___ likely to die out