14 DAY TRIAL // Several reports issued by conservationists show that African lions are likely to fall off the biodiversity map at some point in the not so distant future, simply because people have really taken a liking to destroying their natural habitats and hunting them.
Recent news on this topic says that the American state of Illinois is now looking into the possibility of lending a helping hand to these big cats by outlawing the practice of eating their meat.
By the looks of it, people living in the United States can now feast on African lion meat as often as they wish to, seeing how the country's ongoing legislation does nothing to ban its consumption.
Apparently, this is because the Fish and Wildlife Service in the United states does not consider African lions to be a critically endangered species that needs all the help it can get in order to escape extinction.
The bill aimed at outlawing the practice of eating African lion meat in Illinois was filed and sponsored back in February by State Rep. Luis Arroyo.
Only recently, the bill made it all the way to the state's Agriculture and Conservation Committee, whose members are expected to soon rule either in its favor or against it, sources say.
Should the bill pass, Illinois is to become the first state in the United States to officially ban the sale of African lion meat for human consumption.
Needless to say, conservationists are hopeful that the state's Agriculture and Conservation Committee will agree to offer its support to this legislation project.
“There are people that have them and raise them, but you're going to raise them and eat them? It's just inhumane. Those are zoo animals.”
“Then you talk about eating elephants, eating all kinds of zoo animals. There's other meats we can eat besides the lions,” State Rep. Luis Arroyo reportedly commented with respect to his decision to propose this ban on the sale on lion meat in Illinois.
Rumor has it that, once this ban is set in place, those who fail to abide by it (i.e. people who market or eat African lion meat) risk spending up to one year in prison and paying a $2,500 (€1,922.13) fine.