Has anyone else watched the news about this.

The cruelty of human beings leaves me furious at times.

Could you elaborate?

Cecil was a famous Lion in Zimbabwe, a national monument basically.

Some bastard killed him and skinned and beheaded him, paid someone $32,000 to do it

It's all over the news here

I have mixed feelings over this.
I blame the guides more than the hunter.

While I am not into the big game hunting, I have been to many hunting camps through my years in Alaska.

I do understand the reasons why we have guided hunts so this type of thing doesn't happen.

What happened to to this lion was wrong..The full legal book should be thrown at all that are at fault.

IF this hunter also knew ahead of time that he was too close to the park and this was a "tracked" animal he should also be prosecuted to the max.


I may as well take another hit here I hunt... I eat what I hunt...it is a way of life for many up here in Alaska. I don't go after the biggest I want that to be left for the good of the species. I do go after mid range animal that is going to give me great meat to fill a freezer.

I am a vegetarian for health and moral reasons. This is heartbreaking.

I have no thoughts on hunting either way.

But this lion was shot with a cross bow and it took 40 hours to die, that is wrong.

Crossbow??? I didn't see that I thought it was a long bow... Either way the first travesty was luring him off the park land.



The second travesty was allowing him to suffer that is unforgivable..


I hadn't read that he was made to suffer I did read this story this am...

To make any animal to suffer IMO... well this might upset some but I feel that the person that made the animal suffer should be given the same suffering emotional and physical.

It's seems the guides have been arrested/money confiscated; no arrest of the doctor yet. I'm sure they'll get him soon enough. It's horrible what they did and the condition they left Cecil in.
Not a normal game hunt as rains describes.


Hi rains...I'm feeling a little better. Thanks for kind thoughts. Hope you are well.

Yes it was a long bow, you're right, which make it even worse, probably a cross bow would have killed him quicker.

Sad

I just heard crossbow on CNN from a correspondent. Nobody shoots to wound a carnivore. He didn't suffer because it was intended, he instinctively ran away from a poorly placed shot. Almost all animals do this to include normal large game. It does suck but this isn't the last we will hear about the hunter.

According to some of what I read, the good doc has a somewhat spotty hunting record.

Regardless, I see no reason in the world for taking out such a animal. For what.. to hang its head in your den?.That is not sport,in my mind.

We (humans) think like this because we are on top of the food chain and for no other reason. If we were not I am sure we would have a completely different outlook on hunting. JMO

This is just a sickening story.

I agree

Hope Zimbabwe sues the Pants off that POS in an American Court,and possibly pushes for Criminal Charges as well!

The hunter was a dentist who is now in hiding. He needs to have his teeth knocked out!

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/28/walter-palmer-dentist-accused-killing-cecil-lion-upset-hunter-zimbabwe

July 28, 2015
US dentist accused of killing Cecil the lion 'upset' as hunter becomes hunted

As Zimbabwean police say he faces poaching charges, Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer faces furious criticism on social media



Who shot Cecil? First it was thought that a mystery Spaniard had the blood of one of Africa'��s most famous lions on his hands. Then came a fresh twist. The Cecil slayer, Zimbabwean conservations said on Tuesday, was in fact a dentist from Minnesota.

American Walter Palmer was said to be '��quite upset'� as the hunter became hunted. Zimbabwean police warned that he faced poaching charges, while there was a furious backlash on social media, with Facebook users variously calling for him to be publicly shamed, have his teeth pulled out without anaesthetic or be hunted and killed.

Cecil the lion, known for his black mane, was about 13 years old and a famous attraction for wildlife tourists in Zimbabwe until, earlier this month, he was tempted outside a national park using bait and shot with a bow and arrow. He is believed to have taken 40 hours to die.

In a statement to the Guardian, Palmer confirmed he had been in Zimbabwe in early July on a bow hunting trip. "��I hired several professionals and they secured all proper permits," said Palmer. "��To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted.

"��I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favourite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt,"�� he said. "��I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt."

Palmer, who is from Eden Prairie, just outside of Minneapolis, said he had not been contacted by authorities ' either in Zimbabwe or the US ' about the situation, but was willing to answer any questions they might have for him.

"��I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity that I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion,"�� he said.

The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force charity had initially suggested the culprit had been from Spain but on Tuesday named him as Palmer. This was later confirmed by police.

The charity'��s chairman, Johnny Rodrigues, alleged that Palmer and professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst had gone hunting at night and tied a dead animal to their vehicle to lure Cecil out of Hwange national park.

"Palmer shot Cecil with a bow and arrow but this shot didn't kill him,"� he said. "��They tracked him down and found him 40 hours later when they shot him with a gun. The hunters then found that the dead lion was wearing a tracking collar, which they unsuccessfully tried to hide."

Conservationists call for better protection for wild animals
Cecil was wearing a GPS collar as part of a research project that Oxford University has been running since 1999, making it possible to trace his last movements.

Rodrigues added: "�Cecil was skinned and beheaded. Walter Palmer apparently paid $50,000 for the kill and we assume Theo Bronkhorst received this money."��

Initially his organisation had said the whereabouts of Cecil'��s head was unknown, sparking concerns that it would be sent abroad as a trophy. But on Tuesday Rodrigues said the head of the lion had been located in Zimbabwe and impounded to be used as evidence in the investigation.

"��The saddest part of all is that now that Cecil is dead, the next lion in the hierarchy, Jericho, will most likely kill all Cecil'�s cubs so that he can insert his own bloodline into the females."

Palmer, married with two children and thought to be in his 50s,�� became a target as the Facebook page of his dental clinic was flooded with angry comments and threats. An online petition demanding justice for Cecil had gathered more than 12,000 signatures. An Associated Press reporter approached his clinic in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington but was told he was not seeing patients on Tuesday.

A spokesman for Palmer said the hunter was 'obviously quite upset over everything'��, adding: '��As far as I understand, Walter believes that he might have shot the lion that has been referred to as Cecil.

Palmer's love of hunting is well documented online. In 2009, he was interviewed by the New York Times about his slaying of an elk that was touted as a kill for the archery record books.

Noting that Palmer had learned to shoot at age five and was 'capable of skewering a playing card from 100 yards with his compound bow,'� the article said he had paid $45,000 at auction to take part in the hunt, with the proceeds being used to help fund the elk habitat.

As the hunting season began, Palmer was on probation for lying to authorities over the exact location where he had killed a black bear in northern Wisconsin in 2006.

A 2008 Flickr photo album by Trophy Hunt America and Porcupine Creek Outfitters, a company that leads hunting expeditions, shows Palmer posing next to a variety of slain animals, including a wood bison and a lion. In other online photos Palmer sits next to a slain rhino, the caption stating that the photo was taken in South Africa, or holds up a 175-pound leopard in Zimbabwe.


Emmanuel Fundira, president of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, called for Palmer to be prosecuted as a criminal. "��Cecil was a collared lion, a protected species," he said.

"��The rules are clear in Zimbabwe that no protected lions should be hunted. The American members of our association are encouraged to conduct themselves in a way that is beyond reproach. We are using hunting as a conservation tool, but when the tool is abused in this way, it destroys the whole principle."

He added, "The culprits should be brought to book and punished at the highest level. This is really reckless."��

Cecil's death is yet another blow to Zimbabwe's economy, which is teetering under president Robert Mugabe. Fundira said: "��We are extremely saddened. Cecil was a drawcard, well-known in the industry. Travellers came from all over the world for the experience and it's been taken away."

"��If you imagine the amount being talked about as changing hands, $50,000, the country has been short-changed. An iconic animal like that is worth much more in the long term. It'��s a huge loss and people are grieving."

The Zimbabwean Parks & Wildlife Authority said Bronkhorst and the local landowner, Honest Ndlovu, will appear in court in Victoria Falls on Wednesday to face poaching charges.

"��Both the professional hunter and land owner had no permit or quota to justify the offtake of the lion and therefore are liable for the illegal hunt," it added.

If convicted, the men face up to 15 years in prison. Palmer also faces poaching charges, according to police spokeswoman Charity Charamba. "�We arrested two people and now we are looking for Palmer in connection with the same case,"� she said.

A Texan hunter shot an elderly black rhino in Namibia in May after buying a government-issued licence for $350,000 (�224,000).

op my daughter just told me this morn ... and then read the story ...I don't care if u sign in mine or anyone else"s but this was so wrong ... and those that want justice for this tragedy ...please sign the petition... somewhere on the net ... for this in justice ... and beloved lion ...

Cecil the Lion, a resident of Zimbabwe's national park, and an national icon was poached and killed this week. Media reports in the Guardian, Wall Street Journal and elsewhere have identified American Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minneapolis, MN as the poacher. He is alleged to have lured Cecil from the safety of the national park to kill him. Two of Palmer's local associates are already in custody. Zimbabwe authorities now actively seeking Palmer in connection with this incident.



https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/extradite-minnesotan-walter-james-palmer-face-investigation-and-possible-prosecution-poaching-zimbabwe

OMG!

DEMAND JUSTICE FOR CECIL THE LION IN ZIMBABWE

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/821/738/351/demand-justice-for-cecil-the-lion-in-zimbambwe/#sign

Calling him a hunter is a joke, he should be called a poacher.
Robert Mugabe hates white people but he loves to take their money.