In Zimbabwe, Cecil the lion was a believed to be a rare animal that was relatively safe from trophy hunters and poachers. After all, the 13-year-old lion wore a GPS collar as part of a research project with Oxford University and lived in a reserve funded by various governments and organizations to keep animals safe. Indeed, Cecil was something of a beloved celebrity. What park rangers did not count on was combination of corrupt tour operators, a foreign hunter, and an array of others seeking to lure the lion out of its protected area. Officials say that hunters paid $55,000 for the fun of shooting Cecil and then cutting off his head and skinning him. He was lured out of the park with bait so that he could be killed for sport. The culprit was allegedly a US dentist Walter Palmer from a small town near Minneapolis. Palmer loves to kill large animals and then pose with their bodies in postings on social media.
Cecil had six lioness mates and had sired approximately 24 cubs. Those cubs may now also be killed, which is common when other males move into another lion’s pride.
Palmer (left shown here with an earlier trophy) allegedly hired his band of hunters who helped lure Cecil a mile from the park. Palmer then was able to enjoy killing this magnificent animal with a bow and arrow. They then cut off the collar, another crime in the country.
Cecil was tracked for 40 hours by the team to corner it for Palmer to kill him. The first effort was botched and Cecil survived in pain until he could be tracked down the next day and killed.
The professional hunter, Theo Bronkhorst, with Bushman Safaris said he reported the “mistake” to the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. However, few believe his account and he and the landowner bordering the national park have been charged. The government noted that “Both the professional hunter and land owner had no permit or quota to justify the offtake of the lion and therefore are liable for the illegal hunt.”
For his part, Palmer issued a statement that “To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted. . . I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt . . . I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion.”
Source: CNN
This incident is heartbreaking beyond belief.
Are we allowed to post links to petitions on this site? If not, so be it.
When I signed this petition yesterday, there were 50,000 or so signatures. As of this writing, there are more than 330,000 signatures.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/821/738/351/demand-justice-for-cecil-the-lion-in-zimbambwe/
Take a look at his Yelp reviews. I’d say his career is over. In fact, he might need to assume a new identity.
On a related note: Arne Rosenstock, thank you for responding in a mature manner to an unkind, untrue and unnecessary comment.
Good news, Planned Parenthood is looking for a few good people with your particular set of skills.
“Fetuses live in a reserve funded by various governments and organizations to keep babies safe. Unborn babies can be something like beloved celebrities. What humans did not count on was combination of corrupt Planned Parenthood operators, medical doctors, and an array of others seeking to lure the fetus out of its protected area. Officials say that companies have paid for the fun of crushing a fetus and then cutting off her liver and bone marrow.“
Thanks to this dentist for giving us a breather from the Planned parenthood chop shop videos.
A beautiful lion!
Shot!
With a gun!
Against the Law!
Much better than those ginned up interviews about negotiating the price for fetal livers.
So I’m all in.
Kill this damned dentist!
Tear him to shreds and sell his…well, you know what I mean.
Society still allows some perverts the opportunity to feed what ever sickness it is that they have. There was and may still be a time when killing a lion was done when the lion had attached itself to the easy prey of children and/or livestock of a village, or in a protected area they were multiplying too fast, but this sort of obsession is nothing more than a sickness. Find the most magnificent creatures on earth in their natural habitat and kill them. This guy is completely out the door.
I have friends who hunt for meat, deer, elk, etc. They have the animal butchered and freeze the meat for the season. There is a degree of ‘manliness’ or whatever it is that tingles when they pull the trigger but it is a complete operation. The animals are regulated, culling is often the point, and they make use of meat. From one point of view it is superior than buying steaks from the supermarket. This a**hole is useless in the great scheme of things.
@Michael S. Goodman: I am not fundamentally a jerk who could not get into medical school. I simply trained directly to what I consider to be a medical specialty instead of learning a whole encyclopedia of medical knowledge which I would ultimately never use. I have three years of hospital residency and two years of full-time hospital practice I have a son who is a gastroenterologist who never ceases to wonder at how I came to know all that I did. He acquired THAT insight while he was still a med student, and has never lost it. Most people are unaware of the cadre of dentists in practice who have broad general medical and specialty medical knowledge. That’s because they’ve never known anyone but a ‘drill, fill and bill, will you accept my insurance as full payment Doc?’…Tooth Carpenter in a McDentist practice environment. The fault, dear Michael, is in your stars, NOT in ours.
I’m in the Twin Cities and this is the lead story.
Prison would be too good for this dentist. Pull all his teeth out. Take his photo with his teeth tied in a necklace around his neck. Then shoot him in the head and post his photo on his Facebook or uttBayBook. People who travel across the world to kill animals for fun, ego, and self gratification need to be killed. Lure him out of his dental office and send him to Hell.
It baffles me what people like Palmer get out of killing animals. It’s incomprehensible – regardless of the status of the individual animal slaughtered in the process.
Cecil – you have never been hunting have you?
It’s the snob appeal and status symbol of being able to afford to go on big-game safaris to Africa.
Dentists are not intellectuals. Their only motivation is pecuniary!
Test.
Much as I am dismayed at the death of this lion, I am horrified at the actions of Planned Parenthood in the videos that have hit the press the last week or so. Aborting babies for organs. And JT has not said a word about it.
This will not go over well in Minnesota, which is a big hunting state. I think he will have to move his practice. Hunting lion is down the list of trophy hunting, so he must just be starting out, or having bad luck.
Too much money and too little heart. Vulgar, crass trophy hunter.
Unfortunately, hunting is necessary, especially when you live where I do and deer are a nuisance. I allow hunting on my property, for a fee. I’d love to have this (I am refraining from using my favorite hyphanated word that begins with an A and the second word starts with an H) lovely person come hunt mountain lions on my property. They are dangerous, breeding too fast, and have no problem walking through my mother’s courtyard at night. They prowl around in the garage when it is open. You literally cannot go outside at night there are so many. Please, come pay me what ever it cost to go murder this beautiful creature, and I’ll help the guy get a tag to hunt mountain lions.
This just sickens me, beyond words. 🙁
Dentists are fundamentally jerks who were not able to get into med school, but still wanted a guaranteed salary of at least $100K upon leaving school.
This man should be prosecuted and put in prison for as LONG as possible.
and NOT an American prison… I want to see this POS, do at least 10 years in a Zimbabwe Prison.
that might deter this kind of disgusting behavior.
The WORLD NEEDS to ban the import of death body parts from Game Hunting.
as it stands, the USA is the biggest importer of dead lions, from game hunting.
the number of lions that remain are only around 40,000…
http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/node/2666
Sadly, Americans are leading the world in the import of dead lions as “trophies”.
From 1999 through 2008, Americans imported 4,021 lion trophies to adorn homes and offices across the land. This accounts for more than half of those traded internationally during this time period.
CK07: it sounds to me that he is wealthy enough that he thinks he can buy his way out of any criminal or civil misconduct. Which is why extradition to Africa and a prison term over there might be the only effective deterrent for people like him.
If the lion killer is back in the U.S, he should be deported to Zimbabwe for trial. I hope he serves a lengthy term in an African prison. There needs to be a strong deterrent against the killing and poaching of animals and endangered species in Africa and Asia. A fine is not sufficient. Only a lengthy prison term will serve as a deterrent.
According to another article he paid $127k for a settlement in 09. That coupled with this $54k trip implies to me if he’s tried civilly or people boycott his practice he may have to find a new hobby for financial reasons…