Lions are now protected in the United States under the Endangered Species Act. One subspecies will be listed as “endangered” and another as “threatened.” These lions live in Africa and India. This decision comes after a study showing that lion populations could decrease by 50 percent in the next 20 years. It has also been suggested that the decision was influenced by the outcry after a hunter shot a protected African lion named Cecil last year. The new protection means that it will be harder for hunters to get licenses to hunt these lions, and it will be even harder to bring lions back to the United States.