Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2020 to Question 72166 on Animal Products: Imports, what steps he is taking to include lions in the definition of endangered species.

The Government takes the conservation of endangered species seriously and is committed to doing all we can to support wildlife and the environment, both in the UK and internationally.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is internationally recognised for its work in identifying the conservation status of species, known as the “Red List”. The IUCN currently classifies lions as ‘Vulnerable’. For the extinction risk of lions to be increased to ‘Endangered’ the species must meet several additional classification criteria.

The Government works with other countries, and through international conventions, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, to further the conservation of vulnerable species such as lions based on the latest available evidence.

The Government also supported the establishment of the Big Cats Task Force at the 18^th CITES Conference of the Parties last year, which aims to bolster international cooperation against illegal trade in big cat specimens.