The Murder of Cecil, the Celebrity Black Mane Lion by Walter Palmer

There's nothing sadder than an endangered animal being lured out of his home by a sadist, so that he can add his head to his wall as a trophy. Walter Palmer is the malicious animal that planned the murder and killed Cecil, the 13-year-old lion was a major tourist attraction at the country's famous Hwange National Park, merely for sport.

Zimbabwe, like many African countries, is battling to curb illegal hunting and poaching which threatens to make some of its wildlife extinct, but as the saying goes, "everyone has a price".
Palmer paid $50,000 for the right to hunt and kill an endangered animal. The fact that Cecil was a popular and human friendly animal made Palmer's lust to kill it more attractive.

What makes Cecil different from any other Lion was the fact Cecil is a local celebrity. I don't want to imagine the final moments of Cecil's life. Cecil is a wild animal but grew up around humans and trusted them, and that was his greatest and last mistake. The ZCTF said the hunters had used bait to lure him outside Hwange National Park during a night-time pursuit.

 

Cecil is believed to have been killed on 1 July, but his dead carcass was not discovered until a few days later. Palmer is said to have shot Cecil with a crossbow, injuring the animal. Cecil struggled to stay alive for the sake of his family, but the group of armed hunters found the wounded lion 40 hours later, when and shot him dead with a gun. Cecil had a GPS collar fitted for a research project by UK-based Oxford University that allowed authorities to track its movements. The hunters tried to destroy it, but failed, according to the ZCTF.

On Monday, the head of the ZCTF told the BBC that Cecil "never bothered anybody" and was "one of the most beautiful animals to look at".

The six cubs of Cecil will now be killed by the new male lion in the pride, Johnny Rodrigues added, in order to encourage the lionesses to mate with him.

"That's how it works... it's in the wild. It's nature taking its course," he added.

About a century ago there were around 200,000 lions roaming across Africa but that figure has dropped to less than 30,000 in recent years.

Walter Palmer owns a dentist business at 10851 Rhode Island Ave S, Minneapolis, MN. The dental practice was closed on Tuesday and a note was placed on the door referring visitors to a public relations firm, according to local press. The practice's Facebook page was removed from the site after being besieged by angry comments and the company website was also taken down.