The death of an animal that lived thousands of miles away normally doesn’t elicit the amount of media attention that the death of Cecil the Lion has had. This increased attention received “over-the-top” negative reactions, but ultimately has the potential to do good.
As Walter Palmer (and assuming the rest of the trophy hunter population) would put it, the “taking” of the lion formerly known as Cecil occurred near the beginning of July. According to The Washington Post, Palmer spotted Cecil, lured him from the protection of the Hwange National Park and shot the lion with a bow. Allowing the lion to get away, he hunted him down 40 hours later and killed, skinned, and beheaded the creature. He paid over $50,000 to a professional hunter in order to conduct this hunt. Unbeknownst to the hunters, this lion was a well-known lion who had become a tourist favorite. According to CNN, the professional hunters should have figured this out once they caught up to Cecil and found a tracking collar on him, (placed there for research purposes backed by Oxford University), which they then, allegedly, tried to destroy.
The fact that Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, paid $50,000 to kill an animal is ridiculous in and of itself. As a college student I could think of many different and more productive ways in which that money could be used. Examples include paying for tuition, rent, donating it to people in need, etc. Nope, instead our dentist decides to spend a large sum of money in order to take the life of an animal that has been classified as an endangered species.
Despite the fact that I despise his actions, the reaction that this death has elicited over the past two to three weeks has been astonishing. Besides the animated film “The Lion King,” I never really knew of a beloved lion and I doubt that many people in the United States did either. Most of us really don’t understand the dangers facing the species, or that there are numerous subspecies that have already gone extinct. It is odd for me to hear that so many people have suddenly taken an interest in these meaningless killings, flooding Palmer’s practice with bad Yelp reviews, and forcing him and his family into hiding.
At the end of the day though, trophy hunting is completely wrong. I am doubtful that Palmer will be extradited to Zimbabwe to face justice - which could be good since, according to Goodwell Nzou in his article “In Zimbabwe, We Don’t Cry for Lions,” the president of Zimbabwe killed and ate a baby elephant for his birthday party which cost millions of dollars –in a country where the average monthly income is $150.
Though I don’t believe threatening this man and his family is the right path, the increased media attention for the plight of endangered animals can be channeled to more promising ends. Hopefully, this sad event can shape the future in a better way, starting with a ban on any animal trophies imported into the U.S.
