Personally, I have never been a fan of hunting, regardless of the fact that it is legal in certain states. Just the thought of holding a gun up to a defenseless animal makes me angry. I understand that it may solve the problem of overpopulation, but it still sucks. Overpopulation hunting is one thing, but poaching and trophy hunting is a whole other can of worms.

Just last week, the media announced that Cecil, a beloved lion from Zimbabwe, was shot and killed. Before I heard of this news I had absolutely no clue who Cecil the Lion was, and I am positive that most people who heard this news are in the same boat as me. Even though people had never heard of the lion before, their right to be outraged and heartbroken about this news does not get taken away. I am definitely hurt after hearing this, and I know hundreds of people are as well.

This case has brought the whole country and parts of Africa into the light about what goes on in some of these Wildlife Preserves and African National Parks. Cecil was killed after he was lured out of the Hwange National Park by hunter Theo Bronkhorst, and an American dentist, Walter Palmer. After Palmer and Bronkhorst pronounced the lion dead, they realized that the lion was tagged. Palmer has put himself into hiding after realizing his mistakes.

Cecil might not have been well known to most Americans, but researchers at WildCRU from Oxford knew him very well. Cecil was tagged in 2008 and has helped the researchers "uncover the science that will inform and underpin their conservation".

This situation should matter to the world because these animals are getting killed for money, of which eventually go to selfish hunters. I would hope that these hunters do not have children, because it would be extremely awful for them to explain to their kids why lions, elephants, and other animals are (going) extinct. Maybe in another 10 or 20 years, we all might have to explain to our children that people helped put animals, including lions, to the extinct list.

As of right now the World Wildlife Foundation has recorded 17 species on the Critically Endangered List and 33 species as Endangered. That means that in the next 30 years, we could possibly lose at least 25 species of animals, including African Lions.

This is NOT the life we need to be living. Animals cannot physically fend for themselves. The main thing that has got to happen is that people around the world HAVE to realize that if there is no change soon, we are going to lose some really amazing creatures, and the only ones to blame will be ourselves.