For those of you who live under rocks or in some other way are completely detached from the world and haven't heard, a lion was killed last week. And not just any lion, but Cecil the lion, who had his own Wikipedia page. Cecil was important because he was one of less than 20,000 lions remaining in the wild in Africa. He lived in a protected game reserve and was monitored and tracked via a GPS collar by the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit.

He lived in Zimbabwe with his pride until an American dentist named Walter Palmer, who paid $50,000 for the "privilege" of killing a lion, shot him with an arrow, and finally nearly two days later killed him. Zimbabwe conservation officers are now saying that the dentist and his team illegally lured Cecil off of the protected reserve with meat. All three men are now wanted in Zimbabwe on poaching charges.

Palmer has since issued a statement saying he had no idea that anything he did was illegal, and he had no idea that the lion was collared, or a part of a study. Surely an experienced hunter would notice attempts to lure an animal out of one area and into another. Surely any person with eyes would have noticed a collar. But what I find most appalling from this statement is nowhere does Palmer admit wrongdoing or regret for killing a lion.

There are a lot of supporters of trophy hunting, and many arguments as to why it is beneficial for conservationism. Every year, hunters kill hundreds of thousands of exotic animals, usually in Africa, often paying exorbitant fees to do so. Admittedly, this is a source of income for cash-strapped areas. The money can help local communities, and sometimes part of it will go back into the area, to create a safe spot for the animals before they are hunted.

However, trophy hunting goes directly against conservationism, in that people are killing the animals they purport to be saving. I am not against hunting. It can be necessary for population control and, when done humanely and within limits, is fine, especially if the carcass is used or eaten.

What I am against is trophy hunting. The needless and senseless killing of exotic animals simply for bragging rights. Simply to have the best and biggest dead animal in your profile picture. Trophy hunting hurts the overall population of a species, and is frequently linked to poaching. Moreover, studies have shown that unlike claims to the contrary, revenue from trophy hunting rarely, if ever, flows back into the community where it takes place.

Western black rhinos used to be the trophy of choice. Even when they were on the endangered list, permits were sold for the privilege of shooting black rhinos. Proponents argued that this money went back into caring for black rhinos, so in a way it was a conservationist effort. Until trophy hunting led to the extinction of Western black rhinos. What use is a preserve for black rhinos if they have all been shot?

Clearly, trophy hunting results in needless, senseless death. The true travesty, however, is that it will cause many others. The tradition of lion prides is that when a new dominant male moves in, all male relatives of the old one are killed. This means that in Cecil's family, all of his male cubs and male relatives will also die. This one shooting will lead to the deaths of many others of this endangered species.

The Internet and world have rightly risen up in outrage against Palmer. His dental practice has had to close, and people are protesting his decisions. While this is a good step, protesting against Palmer does little to effect change. To tangibly help, you can join me in signing petitions here and here, or donate to wildlife conservationism efforts here. Protesting against Palmer is only the first step in actually helping to make a difference against trophy hunting.