Cover image via Mashable
The lion pictured below is (or rather, was) named Cecil, one of South Africa's most famous lions, who was the star attraction at Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park. On 1 July 2015, the majestic beast was found skinned and headless on the outskirts of the park.
Cecil was a popular attraction among visitors to the Hwange National Park.
Image via The Telegraph/AFP
While The Guardian had earlier reported that authorities were looking for a Spaniard in connection with Cecil's killing, [The Telegraph]() on 28 July revealed that it was, in fact, an American dentist named Walter James Palmer who lured him out of the park and shot him with a crossbow. Palmer paid USD55,000 for the hunt.
After Cecil's killer was named, the story has taken over the Internet, with a major part of the online and offline world coming together in their collective outrage against the dentist and how Cecil, in an especially brutal manner, was killed.
Seeing how this story is all over the Internet, we decided to make sense of the events and look at the reason behind the outrage.
About Cecil and what happened to him:
Cecil, for his jet black mane, was seen as a huge icon by both tourists and Zimbabweans alike. He is featured in numerous YouTube videos from those who saw him on safaris in Hwange National Park. According to the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, the lion was shot with a crossbow after he was lured out of the sanctuary, following the scent of food.
While the details of Cecil's killing are disturbing, they're important for understanding why this has become a global controversy.
As VOX reports, Hwange National Park is a "free roam" zone under Zimbabwean law, which means that hunting isn't allowed in the park and killing Cecil inside of it would have been illegal. However, Walter James Palmer found a way around this law.
According to the [Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Management Authority](http://www.zimparks.org/index.php/mc/210-joint-press-statement-by-zimbabwe-parks-and-wildlife-management-authority-and-safari-operators-association-of-zimbabwe-on-the-illegal-hunt-of-a-collared-lion-at-antoinette-farm-hwange-district-on-1-july-2015-in-gwayi-conservancy-by-bushman-safaris-profess), two locals are facing charges for assisting in Cecil's killing: a hunter identified as Theo Bronkhorst and a local farmer identified as Honest Trymore Ndlovu. As per The Telegraph, the two Zimbabweans were on Wednesday, 29 July, granted bail at Hwange Magistrate's Court, and remanded until 5 August. If convicted of poaching they could face 15 years in prison. Meanwhile, Walter Palmer, the dentist from Minnesota who shot Cecil, has not been charged over the hunt, and has gone into hiding.
Earlier, in order to kill Cecil "legally", the three of them strapped an animal carcass to a car they parked outside Hwange, on Ndlovu's farm, as bait to draw out Cecil. Once Cecil left the park, it became theoretically legal to shoot him, which Palmer did, with a crossbow. The arrow only wounded the lion. Palmer stalked him for 40 hours, and then shot him again, this time with a rifle. Then Palmer, Bronkhorst, and Ndlovu skinned Cecil's corpse and cut off his head, leaving his body outside the park to rot.
Cecil's death has been described as a total tragedy and a loss by Johnny Rodrigues, the chairman of Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force. To make matters worse, "the next lion in the hierarchy, Jericho, will most likely kill all Cecil's cubs so that he can insert his own bloodline into the females," conservation authorities told The Guardian. Cecil led two prides, totaling six lionesses and 12 cubs, along with another male, Jericho.
Palmer, the American dentist, meanwhile, has apologised for killing Cecil. He, however, insists on his innocence, saying he trusted local guides to ensure the hunt was legal — and that he didn't know the lion was a known and "local favourite" until the end of the hunt.
"I hired several professional guides and they secured all proper permits. To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted," he said in a statement to the Minnesota Star-Tribune. "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 relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt."
How angry are people, and what's happening to Palmer?
A memorial to the famous lion at a Zimbabwe national park who was shot by American dentist Walter Palmer has been set up outside of his office in Bloomington, Minnesota, along with a sign calling the hunter a killer.
Image via Boston News Time
Group of protesters from Animal Rights Coalition and Minnesota Animal Liberation in chants in front of Dr. Palmer's dental practice.
Image via GLEN STUBBE – STAR TRIBUNE
