There are very few things in this world that can rally together nearly the entire human species into chaos against one particular cause. Recently, Cecil the Lion was slain by an American dentist from the Minneapolis area who, according to Business Insider, reportedly paid around $50,000 to hunt down the animal. Cecil’s death created an uproar on social media among animal activist groups that quickly spilled out to the rest of society, enraging us all. Although I understand the fury over his death, the level of outrage for this lion is of some concern.
Cecil was about 13 years old and lived in Hwange National Park grounds in Zimbabwe. Walter Palmer, the dentist accused of senselessly murdering Cecil, lured the animal outside of the park by tying another dead animal to the back of his team’s vehicle. Once out of the park, he then shot Cecil with a bow and arrow. Cecil did not fall, but rather ran from the dentist and his team of professional hunters. After a long 40-hour search for the wounded animal, the group found and shot Cecil in cold blood. However, Cecil held more than just his beautiful coat (which would later be skinned) and his gorgeous mane (a part of his head which would later be sawed off) — Cecil was wearing a collar. As it turned out, the lion was part of a research project that Oxford University had been leading since 1999. The group of hunters attempted to hide the GPS collar which was unsuccessful. The collar was able to track Cecil’s last moments of life.
Although apologetic, Palmer and his family have been harassed over the last several days with protestors leaving signs and pictures outside of their home as well as Palmer’s place of work. Mark Dayton, the governor of Minnesota, also spoke about Palmer’s hunting extravaganza. The Guardian reported that the Governor said, “To lure the animal out of the preserve, I don't understand how anybody thinks that’s a sport. I just think it is horrible.”
As a result of Cecil’s death, the issue of transporting hunting trophies has become a topic of discussion. The New York Times reported that on Monday, Delta Air Lines rightly changed their rules announcing that they would “ban the transport of trophy-hunting kills.” Other airlines such as Air France, KLM, Iberia and IAG Cargo (just to name a few) are doing just the same. In the same light, Ty Inc. has made a Beanie Baby in memory of Cecil to raise awareness for animal conservation. USA Today reports that the toy company will send proceeds from the Cecil the Lion Beanie Baby sales to the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit.
Of course, in no way should Palmer be excused for disrupting Oxford’s research study, and what he did was not only violent but unnecessary. He was not a starving cave man looking for dinner to fuel his family, and he did not need the lion’s coat for warmth. What Palmer did was strictly for sport. Anyone with a heart will feel bad and momentarily mourn the death of Cecil, especially considering that the way he was hunted was not only stone-aged but drawn out. Here’s where the problem lies — Barstool Sports reports that one man tweeted cynically about the comparison between Cecil's senseless death and the death of other humans, using the hashtag #AllLionsMatter.
Another man tweeted about how he should wear a lion’s suit next time he’s out in public just in case he gets shot. This way, when he dies he will get noticed by the media.
Cecil the lion was famous, so he will get recognized. However, there are so many other issues that should be reported on and rallied for while we're spending our time and energy on a lion. Where's the outrage over the amount of children suffering in this country because of poverty? According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, "…more than 16 million children in the United States live below the poverty level." Where are the protesters tweeting about these suffering children? #ChildrenMatter? #PovertyKills? Where are the signs posted on doors or hashtag phenomenons covering the Twitter world? Perhaps, Mr. Palmer, you should have taken that money you spent on hunting Cecil and donated it to saving lives instead of killing one.
Although the death of Cecil was a disgrace to the animal kingdom itself, the effects of childhood poverty should be of much greater concern. The emotional and social challenges that these kids will face as they struggle to make ends meet should not only infuriate us but also call us to action in such a way that Cecil’s death did. Sad to say, it does not — and will not — until we as a species put our priorities in order and realize that a child dying of starvation is of much greater importance than a slain lion. #RIPPriorities
