Every day we can make a choice to save animals who want to live just as much as Cecil did. https://www.facebook.com/veganoutreach
“…most the friends ive seen talking about cecil are meat eaters and it feels crazy that one animal being killed is outrageous because its “majestic”, “pretty” and “exotic” and yet another animals being killed in the thousands daily is totally fine” Emma Smithies
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/cecil-lion-what-could-happen-walter-james-palmer-hunters-n400461
The two Zimbabweans — professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst and farmowner Honest Ndlovu — were in court to face poaching charges. Authorities say they did not have the valid hunting permits.
Wildlife officials accuse the men of taking $50,000 from Palmer in order to coax Cecil out of the Hwange National Park and onto private land, where he was beheaded and skinned.
Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, said Palmer is the one who fatally shot the creature.
Bronkhorst has been stripped of his license while he faces criminal charges, according to a joint statement from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority and the Safari Operators Association.
Bronkhorst’s bail was set at $1,200 and he’s due back in court in one week. If found guilty, he and Ndlovu could be fined $20,000 and get a sentence of up to 10 years in jail.
Police would like to question the 55-year-old trophy hunter for his role in the killing, but have not commented on any possible charges.
He may not face any charges depending on the circumstances, according to the U.K.-based charity LionAid, which advocates for the animal’s protection. The group says it is legal to bait lions in Zimbabwe, and even to kill them using a bow and arrow outside of national parks during private hunting trips. Whether or not they’re wearing a radiocollar — Cecil was — also doesn’t matter, the group says.
But the landowner in this case allegedly never obtained a “quota” for the number of lions that could be killed on his property, making it illegal, LionAid said.
Palmer, meanwhile, was merely the “client” and entrusted his guides — a defense that could get him off the hook for any charges, the group added.
Palmer said in a statement Tuesday that he had “no idea” who the lion was and the legalities of the hunt. He added that he has not been contacted by Zimbabwean authorities.
The U.S. does have an extradition treaty with Zimbabwe that covers crimes punishable for more than a year in jail. Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum has asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to investigate whether any American laws were violated.
Palmer in 2008 pleaded guilty to making false statements to U.S. wildlife officials about a black bear he had fatally shot in western Wisconsin.
The black-maned beast was a fixture of Hwange National Park, making him a local favorite among parkgoers and wildlife researchers. He was named after Cecil Rhodes, a British businessman who was also the namesake for the former southern African territory of Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.
Since 2008, Cecil was being studied by an Oxford University research program. “The lion, Cecil, was a remarkable individual. Remarkable particularly because we have studied him for so long,” Professor David MacDonald, founding director of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford University, told NBC News.
Although the exact number of cubs that 13-year-old Cecil fathered is unclear, researchers believe about eight to 10 of them could wind up dead. That’s because in a lion’s social circle, when one male dies, incoming males in a new coalition typically kill the cubs of the old incumbents, MacDonald said.
“The death of one male lion can cause a cascade of effects that leads to other lions being killed,” he said, adding, “We are working hard to follow the consequences of Cecil’s death.”
More: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/cecil-lion-what-could-happen-walter-james-palmer-hunters-n400461
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/29/africa/zimbabwe-cecil-the-lion-killed/
(CNN)Two men arrested in the death of Cecil the lion — a case in which an American dentist has also been accused, unleashing a torrent of anger online — were released Wednesday by a court in Zimbabwe on $1,000 bail each.
Theo Bronchorst, a professional hunter, and Honest Trymore Ndlovu, a land owner, both Zimbabweans, said through their attorney that they were innocent of poaching charges, which officials said could bring a sentence of 10 years in prison.
Zimbabwean authorities said that Walter J. Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, paid at least $50,000 for the hunt. Palmer has said he relied on the expertise of local guides “to ensure a legal hunt.”
But the lion that he and his local guides killed wasn’t just any lion, according to Zimbabwean officials.
He was Cecil, a major tourist draw at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.
The 13-year-old lion, recognizable by the black streaks in his mane, suffered a slow death, according to the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.
The hunters lured him out of the sanctuary of the park with a dead animal on top of a vehicle, the conservation group said.
Palmer, officials said, then shot the lion with a crossbow, a method for which he is known. But Cecil survived another 40 hours until the hunters tracked him down and shot him with a gun.
<img alt=”Walter J. Palmer, left, a U.S. hunter wanted in the killing of Zimbabwe's Cecil the lion, poses with a dead ram.” class=”media__image” src=”http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150728212459-03-walter-james-palmer-large-169.jpg”>
Cecil was skinned and beheaded, and the hunters tried to destroy the GPS collar that Cecil was wearing as part of research backed by Oxford University, the group said.
“I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt,” Palmer said Tuesday in a statement. “I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt.”
His alleged role in Cecil’s death brought a wave of online anger crashing down on him.
The Yelp page for his dental practice in Bloomington, Minnesota, was inundated with reviews posted by people irate over his lion hunting.
<img alt=”Only four northern white rhinos are left ” class=”media__image” src=”http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150728201741-northern-white-rhino-large-169.jpg”>
“Shame on you, killing a majestic creature,” wrote a user named Charmie P.
The website for Palmer’s business, River Bluff Dental, appeared to have been taken down.
A torrent of outrage flowed on social media, with celebrities such as Sharon Osbourne lambasting the dentist.
“I hope that #WalterPalmer loses his home, his practice & his money,” Osbourne tweeted. “He has already lost his soul.”
Investigations suggest the killing of Cecil was illegal because the land owner “was not allocated a lion on his hunting quota for 2015,” said a statement from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe.
The dentist said in his statement that no authorities in Zimbabwe or the United States had contacted him but that he would assist them in any inquiries.
“I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion,” Palmer said.
#WalterPalmer: Internet seeks revenge for Cecil the lion
Investigations suggest the killing of Cecil was illegal because the land owner “was not allocated a lion on his hunting quota for 2015,” said a statement from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe.
The dentist said in his statement that no authorities in Zimbabwe or the United States had contacted him but that he would assist them in any inquiries.
“I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion,” Palmer said.
But Cecil’s killing doesn’t appear to be the first time Palmer has got into trouble while hunting.
A man by the same name and age, and from the same town, illegally killed a black bear in Wisconsin several years ago, according to court documents.
That individual pleaded guilty to making false statements knowingly to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and was sentenced to one year on probation and ordered to pay a fine of nearly $3,000, records show.
A New York Times article in 2009 that profiled Palmer and his hunting methods said he had served a year of probation over the false statements case.
<img alt=”Palmer, right, poses with a dead black-tailed deer. The dentist said he "deeply" regrets killing Cecil the lion.” class=”media__image” src=”http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150728212457-02-walter-james-palmer-large-169.jpg”>
The Times article detailed Palmer’s skill and enthusiasm for using archery rather than firearms to slay animals.
He is “said to be capable of skewering a playing card from 100 yards with his compound bow,” it said, recounting his killing of a large elk with an arrow in Northern California.
More: http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/29/africa/zimbabwe-cecil-the-lion-killed/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33699347
Cecil the lion was a renowned figure in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.
Earlier this month, however, American dentist Walter Palmer paid roughly $50,000 (£32,000)for the chance to kill the popular animal, although he says he was unaware of Cecil’s fame and reputation.
That prompted revulsion from many on social media, with tens of thousands signing a petition calling for Cecil’s killer to be brought to justice.
But what is the difference between hunting an animal and poaching?
The crucial distinction to be made between poaching and hunting is where each sits in the eyes of the law. Put simply, poaching is hunting without legal permission from whoever controls the land.
Hunting lions is not prohibited per se in Zimbabwe, and indeed in many other countries in Africa. Hunting is regulated by the government, and hunters must obtain permits authorising them to kill certain animals.
Tourists who wish to hunt in the country may do so. Where and what they hunt, and what type of weaponry they use, is all the subject of regulation.
Foreigners hunting in Zimbabwe must be accompanied by a licensed professional hunter, and tour operators which sell hunting packages to tourists are regulated by the government.
Browsing online, it is possible to find package hunting trips in Zimbabwean game reserves for around $50,000 – about the same amount Mr Palmer says he paid for the hunt which has earned him global infamy.
The dentist who has attracted numerous unwanted headlines over the last couple of days, has insisted that he believed “everything about this trip was legal and properly handled”, prior to killing Cecil the lion.
Some animals, such as elephants and rhinos, attract poachers because selling their tusks can prove extremely lucrative.
Earlier this year, Kenya’s president set fire to a pile containing 15 tonnes of seized elephant ivory with an estimated value of more than $30 million (£19 million).
Uhuru Kenyatta lamented that the tusks had been taken from elephants which had been “wantonly slaughtered by criminals”.
Rhino and elephant tusks are routinely exported to Asia, where ivory is used to make ornaments, and in traditional medicines.
For some, like Walter Palmer, however, the act of hunting itself is the attraction. That, and the prospect of a “trophy”, such as a lion’s head, after the kill is made.
Since he acknowledged having killed Cecil, photographs of the hunter with the carcasses of other animals have been widely shared online.
He has expressed regret that “my pursuit of an activity I love” had resulted in the death of such a popular animal.
It is estimated that more than 650 lion carcass “trophies” are exported from Africa each year.
The main argument against unauthorised hunting is the effect it has on the numbers of animals living in the wild.
The level of public outcry when a case such as the slaying of Cecil the lion comes to the fore is accentuated by the fact that poachers often target some of the planet’s most impressive and treasured creatures.
The Born Free Foundation estimates that between 30% and 50% of Africa’s lion population has been wiped out over the course of the last two decades. Just 32,000 of the animals remain in the wild.
Hunting big game in its natural habitat is undoubtedly an attractive prospect for some tourists – and something many are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to experience.
Emmanuel Fundira, president of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, has described Cecil’s killing as a “tragedy” for tourism in Zimbabwe.
A professional hunter identified by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority as Theo Bronkhorst and his co-defendant, farm owner Honest Trymore Ndlovu, are accused of helping Walter James Palmer hunt the lion. Zimbabwean police said they are looking for Palmer, the American dentist who reportedly paid $50,000 to track and kill the animal.
Zimbabwean prosecutors’ documents accuse Bronkhorst of failing to “prevent an unlawful hunt.” Court documents say Bronkhorst was supervising while his client, Palmer, shot the animal.
During the nighttime hunt, the men tied a dead animal to their car to lure the lion out of a national park, said Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force. The American is believed to have shot it with a crossbow, injuring the animal. The wounded lion was found 40 hours later, and Palmer shot it dead with a gun, Rodrigues said.
Using bait to lure Cecil the lion is deemed unethical by the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, of which Bronkhorst is a member. The association has since revoked his license.
“Ethics are certainly against baiting. Animals are supposed to be given a chance of a fair chase,” Emmanuel Fundira, the association’s president, said on Tuesday. “In fact, it was not a hunt at all. The animal was baited and that is not how we do it. It is not allowed.”
Palmer, a dentist living in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie, said in a statement that he was unaware the lion was protected, relying on local guides to ensure a legal hunt.
“I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt. I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt,” Palmer said in statement through a public relations firm.
Elephants, rhinos, zebras and various species of antelope were regular sights on visits to game parks on school trips and on family outings.
I’ll never forget the day when my elementary class visited the local vet to see an injured wild dog that had been brought in for treatment — a rare event in the country’s second-largest city, Bulawayo.
So like many others…More: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/07/29/cecil–lion-death/30826405/
Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist who acknowledged hunting and killing Cecil, a beloved lion in Zimbabwe, is now the one being hounded on the Internet by protesters flooding his social media, creating online petitions and mocking him on parody accounts.
Over 273,000 tweets contained the trending hashtag #CeciltheLion on Twitter in the past 24 hours after the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, which is not part of the Zimbabwe government, alleged in a statement on Tuesday that Palmer paid $50,000 for the chance to kill Cecil the lion in early July. ABC News has not been able to independently confirm that figure.
Palmer responded later Tuesday, saying in a statement that he “deeply” regretted the pursuit of the early July hunt in Zimbabwe that “resulted in the taking of this lion.” He added that he “had no idea” Cecil the lion was a “known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study. I hired several professional guides and they secured all proper permits. To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted.”
But the Internet wasn’t satisfied with Palmer’s apology and descended upon on the Minnesota dentist on social media. Palmer’s Facebook page for his dental practice, River Bluff Dental, was flooded with expletives directed towards him and death threats. The website was seemingly taken down Tuesday evening and was not up as of Wednesday morning.
Palmer’s Yelp page for his practice has also received an overwhelming amount of sarcastic reviews attacking him for killing Cecil. The page was still up as of Wednesday morning.
“I hope your patients abandoned you and that you are never able to earn a living again so that you can no longer bankroll your lust for killing,” a user by the name of Mike C. wrote on the page.
“Five Stars at being a miserable excuse of a human being,” another user by the name of Thomas D. wrote. “You are not a hunter but a coward!”
A parody account mocking Palmer and his dental practice was also created on Twitter under the handle @RiverBluffDental.
Additionally, online petitions to both U.S. and Zimbabwe officials have garnered thousands of supporters.
An online petition to President Obama on Change.org demanded “justice for Cecil” and for the creation of new laws protecting big game from being hunted outside of the U.S. and brought back. Over 7,200 supporters signed the petition as of Wednesday morning.
Another petition on Care2 Petitions was addressed to Zimbabwe Republic President Robert Gabriel Mugabe and also demanded “justice for Cecil” and for the country to “stop issuing hunting permits to kill endangered animals.” The petition had over 350,000 signatures as of Wednesday morning.
Palmer and his spokesman Jon Austin did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment on the outpouring on social media. River Bluff Dental was closed Tuesday and today.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a statement today noting that the agency is “deeply concerned about the recent killing of Cecil the lion.”
“We are currently gathering facts about the issue and will assist Zimbabwe officials in whatever manner requested. It is up to all of us — not just the people of Africa — to ensure that healthy, wild populations of animals continue to roam the savanna for generations to come,” the agency said in its statement.
In 2008, Palmer pleaded guilty to making false statements to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about a black bear he shot and killed in Wisconsin outside of an authorized hunting zone, according to court documents.
Though Palmer said in his Tuesday statement that he had “not been contacted by authorities in Zimbabwe or in the U.S. about this situation,” the Associated Press reported that Zimbabwe police said they were looking for Palmer, who is facing poaching charges.
“We arrested two people and now we are looking for Palmer in connection with the same case,” Zimbabwe Republic Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told the AP.
A professional hunter named Theo Bronkhorst and a landowner named Honest Trymore Ndlovu are facing criminal poaching charges in connection with Cecil’s death and are set to appear in court today, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management authority said in a joint statement along with the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe on Tuesday.
300,000
we’ve got 198,641 signatures, help us get to 300,000
On July 1, Cecil the lion, one of the most famous animals in one of Zimbabwe’s national parks, was shot by a bow hunter. The hunter was a dentist from Minnesota who paid $55,000 for a hunting permit before shooting the 13-year-old big cat.
Please sign the petition to demand justice for Cecil! Tell Zimbabwe to stop issuing hunting permits to kill endangered animals!
The hunters reportedly lured Cecil out of Hwange National Park, where it is illegal to kill wildlife, at night. Cecil was shot with a bow and arrow. The wounded lion didn’t die until 40 hours later, when the hunters tracked him down and shot him with a rifle. They then skinned and beheaded him. The Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association confirmed that Cecil was killed outside the park on private land, and an investigation is ongoing into the legality of the hunt.
The legend of Cecil started about three and a half years ago, when the then-10-year-old lion was kicked out of his pride, beaten by younger, more powerful males. Hunters argue that as loners, prideless male lions aren’t as important to sustaining lion populations.
But Cecil wasn’t finished. He soon teamed up with another lone male named Jericho, and the lions regained control of the region’s two prides, one of which consists of three lionesses and seven cubs under seven months old.
The loss of Cecil most likely spells the end of Jericho’s reign, and the possible loss of the pride’s cubs. Jericho, as a single male, will be unable to defend the two prides and cubs from new males that invade the territory. This is what we most often see happening in these cases. Infanticide is the most likely outcome.
Please sign the petition to demand justice for Cecil! Tell Zimbabwe to stop issuing hunting permits to kill endangered animals!
For Cecil isn’t just any old lion. He’s one of Africa most famous and beloved lions, the star attraction at the Hwange national park, and a YouTube sensation for tourists.
He’s renowned as a gentle giant.
Such popularity cut no ice with Dr Palmer.
He and his fellow hunters tied a dead animal to their vehicle to lure Cecil out of the park, scenting an area half a kilometre away.
Cecil took the bait and strayed outside.
Dr Palmer pounced, firing his bow-and-arrow and striking Cecil.
He’s a great shot.
A New York Times profile of him in 2009 said he was ‘capable of skewering a playing card from 100 yards with his compound bow.’
But Cecil didn’t die.
Instead, he stumbled off, wounded and bloodied, for 40 hours before Dr Palmer and his hunters finally caught up with him and shot him dead.
They then beheaded Cecil, and skinned him, before leaving his rotting carcass lying outside the park.
There was no report on whether Cecil died with a ‘dazzling smile’ on his face, but it’s probably safe to assume he didn’t.
As a result of his death though, conservation experts say it is now highly likely that all Cecil’s recently born cubs will now be killed by the next lion in the hierarchy, Jericho – so that he can insert his own bloodline into the females.
Within hours of his name being revealed today, photos of Dr Palmer with his ‘trophies’ began popping up all over the internet
The cosmetic dentist gleefully cuddling myriad fabulous animals he’s just killed and mutilated. His trusty bow-and-arrows nestled against their still twitching bodies.
Dr Palmer is wanted for questioning on suspicion of breaking two laws – deliberately luring an animal from the park to kill it, and removing the lion’s identifying collar (which should have protected Cecil from being hunted), also a breach of the rules.
He and members of his team have been charged and will appear in court next week.
Within hours of his name being revealed today, photos of Dr Palmer with his ‘trophies’ began popping up all over the internet.
The cosmetic dentist gleefully cuddling myriad fabulous animals he’s just killed and mutilated.
He’s just a smirking, vile, callous assassin with no heart, whose shameless boasting of his disgusting exploits is almost as repellent as his exploits
His trusty bow-and-arrows nestled against their still twitching bodies.
Dr Palmer’s beatific smile ever present, those twinkling kindly eyes shining through the camera lens.
The pictures make me puke.
Dr Palmer makes me puke.
He’s just a smirking, vile, callous assassin with no heart, whose shameless boasting of his disgusting exploits is almost as repellent as the exploits themselves.
What he does isn’t ‘hunting’. It’s not a fair fight.
It’s a rich, well-armed man paying a fortune to hire a team of people to lure unsuspecting animals to their certain death. Then ripping them to pieces so their heads and horns can be retained as sickening trophies.
If convicted, Dr Palmer now faces a prison sentence, but captivity seems way too good for him.
Instead, I’d like to introduce a new sport – Big Human Hunting.
I will sell tickets for $50,000 to anyone who wants to come with me and track down fat, greedy, selfish, murderous businessmen like Dr Palmer in their natural habit.
We’d lure him out with bait – in his case I suggest the fresh blood of one of his victims would be very effective as it seems to turn him on so much – and once lured, we would all take a bow and fire a few arrows into his limbs to render him incapable of movement.
Then we’d calmly walk over, skin him alive, cut his head from his neck, and took a bunch of photos of us all grinning inanely at his quivering flesh.
This may sound harsh, but if you ask Dr Palmer, it’s really not.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3177611/PIERS-MORGAN-d-love-hunting-one-day-Dr-Walter-Palmer-killer-dentist-stuff-mount-office.html#ixzz3hDYOPPug
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With his striking mane and relaxed manner around the cameras, Cecil the lion was one of the stars of Zimbabwe’s biggest national park.
Now park rangers and safari lovers have been left devastated after the much-loved lion was horrifically killed by a hunter.
After wounding the great beast with an arrow, the depraved hunter spent two days tracking down the injured lion before killing the animal with a rifle. After skinning the corpse, the lion’s noble head was hacking off and taken by the hunter as a hunting trophy.
The death of the 13-year-old big cat has left conservators deeply worried for the safety of several lion cubs, who are now living unprotected in the park.
Exposing the Big Game 
