This week, the world was heartbroken by the death of 13-year-old Cecil the lion's shocking death. He had been a part of a study by Oxford University in London that tracked his movement and survival in the wild. Cecil called Zimbabwe home in one of the country's national parks, and was studied for the majority of his life.

Cecil was said to have been shot by Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, for roughly $50,000. Palmer was escorted by a hunting guide and a group to hunt and kill a lion. The group and Palmer are being accused of baiting Cecil out of the national park reservation where he usually stayed. Palmer is said to have shot Cecil with an arrow, hunted Cecil back down for 40 hours, shot and killed Cecil, and decapitated the animal and skinning it.

Now, in a world where we know so much about animals and have seen so many leave our planet, why do acts like this continue to happen? We have seen White Rhinos protected by armored guards 24/7; we have seen the celebration of Pandas giving birth to new cubs; and we have seen so much destruction that has almost destroyed some of the most beautiful animals... including our nation's mascot, the eagle.

Our world is slowly being destroyed by so many things, and the fact that there are a select few people who are killing off the world's greatest creatures is extremely frustrating to me. It is like being in preschool again: The teacher says if everyone turns in their homework, you can have extra recess time, but there was always that one kid who "forgot it," didn't do it, or spitefully wanted to screw everyone else over.

We cannot allow those people who are killing off our beloved creatures continue. The world needs to develop a system where these people are not allowed to kill certain animals, like lions whose population has decreased more than 90 percent in just the last 75 years, under any circumstances or privilege. Our world can't function without a multitude of things and, to quote my favorite movie, animals are an essential part to our "circle of life."

You should care about things like these stories of killing for sport because of how heartless and selfish it is. Killing an animal, decapitating it, skinning it, and leaving the corpse to rot is a selfish act. This is what Walter Palmer is accused of doing. There are programs in Africa where you can pay to kill predators that are hurting villages and communities. Now I don't believe this to be that great of a substitute, but at least in that case you are able to help out fellow human beings in order to save their livelihoods.

You should care about this story because this animal had no clue what it was doing, but the people who killed him did. They knew that luring Cecil out of his reservation would "allow" them to shoot him. They knew how to lure him out and how to track him. Cecil was just trying to survive and was murdered.

You should care about this event because this is our planet that others are destroying. We are the ones who will suffer the consequences of making rhinos extinct or of letting red wolves die. We have a responsibility to maintain the balance the earth was given billions of years ago.

You should care about Cecil the lion's death because he was an animal. He was a creature that the earth bore and was killed by another product of the earth: an idiot and a monster.