In 1968, the Pop Artist Andy Warhol coined the term, "15 minutes of fame," and in 2015, media outlets are still proving that it holds true. Media and news outlets love a big story, at least for a little while. Once the public gets bored, it's on to the next one.
So, does anyone remember Cecil? Dr. Jane Goodall does, and she is turning the conversation into what it really should be: a denunciation of trophy hunting. She says, "Lions, leopards, sable antelopes, giraffes and all the other sport or trophy animals are beautiful – but only in life. In death they represent the sad victims of a sadistic desire to attract praise from their friends at the expense of innocent creatures. And when they claim they respect their victims and experience emotions of happiness at the time of the killing, then surely this must be the joy of a diseased mind?"
It is important that we all remember Cecil as a magnificent lion. But Cecil is not alone. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an estimated 600 lions are slaughtered for sport annually. But trophy hunting is not limited to lions. In the same report published by the IUCN, it was revealed that, "Tourist hunters kill around 105,000 animals per year, including around 640 elephants, 3,800 buffalo, 600 lions and 800 leopards."
Without discounting the lives of any of the animals killed, it is arguably more important that we remember that Cecil was a catalyst in the debate over the morality of trophy hunting and the killing of animals for both sport and consumption. Dr. Goodall goes on to succinctly state this later in her statement: "Cecil has become, albeit unknowingly, a martyr for a cause." Then how should we define this "cause"? The ethical dilemma behind trophy hunting is not mutually exclusive from the morality of eating farm-raised animals. There is however one important distinction here, that harming and killing animals from necessity is not morally equivalent to harming and killing animals for pleasure. Humans, as a species, do not need to eat meat to survive. There are other ways that humans can find and consume the same nutrients that are found in meat and fish.
However, this isn't to say that everyone should become a vegetarian. John Bouvier, a self proclaimed vegetarian, published this article encouraging a portion of the population to remain omnivores, mainly on the premise that, "It simply isn’t possible to survive if every living thing is competing for the same resources." If all animals currently being raised for slaughter were suddenly factored in for eating the same vegetable food sources as humans, we would soon completely wipe them out to consume more plant-based food items ourselves.
Cecil has indeed sparked public interest in the debate over trophy hunting, but now it is up to the people to take this further and delve deeper into the issues behind the injuring and killing of animals, for both sport and consumption.
