America is the largest consumer of lions
If the African lion is listed as endangered under the ESA, the largest importer of African lion parts will become the species' protector. The U.S. has played an enormous role in the disappearance of the African lion: As African lion populations and range have declined, the number of sport-hunted lion trophies imported to the U.S. has increased dramatically.
Between 1999 and 2008, 7,090 lion trophies were traded internationally at the behest of recreational hunters. Most of these trophies (4,139) were imported to the U.S. In the same decade, 2,715 wild-caught lion specimens (that is, lions and their body parts) were also traded internationally for commercial purposes. The U.S. imported 1,700 of these specimens (63 percent). The specimens most often traded commercially were claws, trophies, skins, live animals, skulls, and bodies.