WH promotes anti-poaching work after Cecil the lion killing

The White House said Wednesday it is working to stop wildlife trafficking in the wake of the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe, including through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).  

In a blog post, administration officials said the 12-nation TPP “could prove to be a significant step forward in the fight” against poaching because it expands signatories’ obligations to enforce trafficking and conservation laws. 

{mosads}Within the treaty, the U.S. would “work directly with partner countries to provide the technical knowhow needed for enforcement,” wrote Jeffery Zients, director of the National Economic Council, and Christy Goldfuss, managing director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

A Minnesota dentist admitted last week to killing Cecil, a famed Zimbabwean lion, while on a hunt in early July. The incident sparked public outrage, and officials and some members of Congress said the incident should lead to new efforts to stop poaching. 

The White House tied Cecil’s death to the killing of five Kenyan elephants last week and said the Obama administration is working to crack down on poaching.

Beyond the TPP, Zients and Goldfuss said, the White House will host a fall meeting of the new U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance, a group of companies, nonprofits and foundations focused on reducing the demand for wildlife products. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will also travel to Africa soon to focus on wildlife trafficking on the continent. 

While traveling in Kenya last month, Obama proposed a new rule to stop the sale of African elephant ivory. He also said the U.S. will send more than $8 million to a handful of African countries to combat poaching there.

“These incidents raise the question of how to best protect treasured wildlife,” the officials wrote in their post. 

“Poaching is a global problem and a focused effort is required to combat it, even when it’s not in the headlines. And that’s what we’re committed to do.”