WASHINGTON (September 24, 2024)—Animal protection and conservation groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today for missing its deadline to decide whether the common hippopotamus should be protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
In 2022 Humane Society International, the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a legal petition seeking Endangered Species Act protection for hippos. The Service was required by law to respond and determine whether hippos should be protected under the ESA by March 24, 2023. Eighteen months later, the agency still has not done so. Today’s lawsuit challenges the agency’s failure to make this critical determination.
Hippos are in a precarious position in the wild, with population levels declining as much as 20% between 1996 and 2008, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Habitat loss and degradation, drought, poaching and the international trade of hippo parts, including their teeth, skulls, ivory, skin and meat, all threaten this keystone species.
The United States is the primary driver of demand for hippo products, responsible for nearly half of global imports between 2019 and 2021. At least 3,081 hippos were killed to meet U.S. demand between 2009 and 2018, and the popularity of hippo products has continued.
Sophie Nazeri, senior coordinator of wildlife for Humane Society International, speaking on behalf of HSI and the Humane Society of the United States, said: “Hippos face a myriad of threats that are unnecessarily exacerbated by the international trade in hippo products like tables made with their skulls, boots made from their skin and trinkets carved out of their ivory. These animals are ecologically indispensable and deserve more than being reduced to mere accessories. The U.S. government’s delay is tragic since Endangered Species Act protections are essential to curbing the gruesome U.S. market for hippo products.”
“Hippos are disappearing from Africa’s freshwater ecosystems and lagging action from U.S. wildlife officials isn’t helping. These chunky icons belong in the water, not carved up for fashion, knickknacks or trophies for U.S. consumers,” said Tanya Sanerib, international legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “With the extinction crisis accelerating, all species under threat need protections, from three-ton hippos to the Earth’s smallest creatures. We’ll keep fighting for them all.”
Hippo parts and products are easy to find and purchase across the United States. An undercover investigation by Humane Society International and the Humane Society of the United Statesrevealed thousands of hippo products for sale on the U.S. market. The most common items were made from hippo leather — including belts, shoes and purses — and from hippo ivory, such as handles on knives and bottle openers and decorative carvings. Vendors also sold hippo hunting trophies, including shoulder mounts (the animal’s head and neck) and teeth.
Brianna DelDuca, regulatory specialist at the Humane Society Legislative Fund, said: “The U.S. government must stop stalling when it comes to protecting highly imperiled species across the globe. As the top importer of sport-hunted trophies, the U.S. is further pushing hippos to the brink of extinction. At a minimum, the Fish and Wildlife Service must grant this iconic species required protections under the Endangered Species Act.”
While the U.S. government drags its feet, hippos continue to be killed in the wild to fuel this legal trade, and ESA protections would help guard hippos against U.S. fueled exploitation. The protections requested in the petition would substantially restrict the commercial import and sale of hippo parts and products while also promoting public awareness and providing funding to achieve the ESA’s conservation goals.
Today’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in the District of Columbia, seeks a court-ordered deadline for the Fish and Wildlife Service to determine whether hippos should be protected under the ESA.
Background
- When a group submits a petition to the Fish and Wildlife Service seeking ESA protections for a species, the law requires the government to make an initial determination within 90 days as to whether the request may be warranted. If the agency determines ESA protections may be warranted—as it has done for hippos—it must then decide within 12 months of the petition’s submission whether to propose those protections.
- The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the common hippopotamus as “vulnerable,” meaning it is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. There may be as few as 115,000 adult hippos remaining in the wild in Africa today, with populations continuing to decline in many range states.
- Without the U.S. Endangered Species Act listing, domestic trade within the United States is not regulated at the federal level, and imports of hippo parts and products are not scrutinized under the ESA’s strict standards.
- Hippos are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, meaning that legal trade in their parts must be controlled to prevent it from threatening their survival. Despite hippos’ inclusion on CITES Appendix II, the species’ conservation status continues to deteriorate, and at the most recent CITES Conference of the Parties, Member States failed to adopt a proposed revision to hippos’ CITES listing that would have prohibited all exports of wild specimens for commercial purposes.
Photos/Video
- YouTube Video
- 2021 Undercover Investigation of Hippo Parts Sold in The U.S.
- Hippo Parts at Safari Club International Undercover Investigations
- Hippos in The Wild
Media Contacts
Rodi Rosensweig: (202) 809-8711, rrosensweig@humanesociety.org
Tanya Sanerib, Center for Biological Diversity: 206-379-7363, tsanerib@biologicaldiversity.org
