Cecil the lion murdered!

[the702noonan]

Terrible, why would anyone do such a thing is beyond me. I love all animals.

[JediJohnnie]

There's a petition out there to see that this guy gets the punishment he deserves. I signed it earlier,so it's out there if you look for it. 

[vp44]

Wht a horrible thing to do to a animal. Now the guy is being hunted and I do not feel sorry for him.

[JaniceSW]

This was a trophy kill, not a kill for food and warmth of the skin.  Now the brother of Cecil has been killed and the government had just put out a protective order limiting such killing.  There are misguided souls everywhere, but without education, animals such as the elephant and tiger will not be around for the next generation.  People do not always realize that everything contributes to the ecosystem and life on earth.
I have signed the petition that the dentist needs to have punitive consequences.  I have heard there are pictures of him with other animals he has hunted for trophies.  The absolute worst reason to kill an animal!  How dare he or anyone else take life for such a reason.  And we are supposed to be civilized and above such behavior!  Well, there are idiots everywhere.

[hawkeye3210]

Now the brother of Cecil has been killed and the government had just put out a protective order limiting such killing.

Jericho, who is NOT Cecil's brother BTW, is alive and well.

[countrygirl12]

There's a petition out there to see that this guy gets the punishment he deserves. I signed it earlier,so it's out there if you look for it. 

Probably need more info to find it.  WHO is behind the petition?  And it just says "that he gets the punishment he deserves?"  I would need a lot more info before I signed a petition.  More than likely he won't get anything.

[jenniferhoder]

I don't agree with the dentist at all. He should be charged to the highest degree possible. Stupid people suck!

[BlackSheepNY]

This guy should be hunted himself, killed, beheaded and someone should mount his head on wood. He should have never killed that lion.

I couldn't agree more.  There should be a "human" preserve where these "hunters" are the hunted "for sport."  If they felt the fear they instill in animals themselves, bet they'd change their mind about ever wanting a lion's head on their wall.

[hawkeye3210]

Or we could just give him jail time, like he would have got if it was a human he killed. It's more than a little messed up do read these "punishments" that are more "cruel and unusual" than if it was another human he killed.

[Liquidfire_43]

I can understand hunting animals to keep the animal population healthy, but I don't understand why you would hunt a animal that is endangered or potentially going to be endangered. He also illegal hunted a black bear in the past no sympathy for Walter

[bremer51]

 I come from a long line of hunters and fishermen, grandfather, aunts, uncles, etc. I hate hunting and even if the hunter uses the meat and the pelt, you will eventually see a mounted head in his garage or living room.  And that makes it trophy hunting. Trophy hunting makes me want to scream and beat people. So far I have curbed myself.

[CharmedPhoenix]

Cecil was known for his black mane.  I've seen the photos and have yet to see the tracking collar.  The guides lured him out, but sport hunting should be outlawed, everywhere.

The dentist's office is closed and a memorial is in front of the door.  His website is down too.  The fool thinks he'll be back in business.  Change.org has a petition to extradite him to Africa to face sentencing.

I think he should be the new big cat pooper scooper at the zoo. 

[lvstephanie]

I love how this story has spawned two camps of people calling for Palmer's head. You have the people that are against any type of hunting and/or trophy hunting whatsoever, and then there is the group that feels like Palmer made an illegal hunt and therefore needs to be held accountable.

For the first group of people I think that they are a non-entity to this story. Whether it was Cecil the lion or some unnamed deer in NY doesn't really matter... They'd be against the hunter regardless. Unfortunately so many of the people blowing this story out of proportion (compare this story to any story of a human being killed) tend to be in this camp. They see an animal (esp. a mammal) being killed and are immediately saddened and outraged by the lion being killed, whether or not the kill was legal. These people, while keeping the issue of hunting in general alive do nothing for this particular story, esp. since one of Zimbabwe's "tourist" industries is big-game hunting.

The second group of people I think have more to offer to this particular story. They don't condemn Palmer for being a hunter, but rather for making an illegal kill. With this group, there may be some that are calling for Palmer to face legal charges that he may not be guilty of, but at least these people have more of a rational response and so can learn if there are any errors in their judgement.

The most common misinformation that I have heard is that Palmer killed an endangered species.... While the Asian lion is indeed endangered, the African lion is not; at most one could consider the African species to be threatened. Thus as to the legality of killing this type of lion, Palmer is not guilty of any wrong-doing.

As for following the lead of the hunting guide, again many big-game hunting sites as well as other organizations interested in Afican hunting (eg lionwatch.org which is a site for the conservation of lions worldwide) have also echoed this sentiment. Thus a majority of the blame should lie with the guide for giving improper direction.

Where I would find fault with Palmer is in his actions after the kill, although considering the almost immediate hostility that was thrown at him I guess I'm a little more lenient. I felt that after the kill, Palmer must have known that the lion was special in some way. Even if he truly didn't see the radio collar at the time he was making the shot, once he got up to the body, he should have recognized it and then immediately reported the incident to the authorities (or at least to the US embassy which in turn could alert the Zimbabwe authorities). However by him leaving the country and now going into hiding here in the states make it look more like he knew it was wrong and was more afraid of getting caught. Had he turned in his guide immediately after he realized that his guide gave him advice that led to the illegal kill, then I think that more people would be understanding.

[JaniceSW]

Now the brother of Cecil has been killed and the government had just put out a protective order limiting such killing.

Jericho, who is NOT Cecil's brother BTW, is alive and well.

Thank-you for the correction.  I am so very happy to say that Jericho is NOT dead.  However, I can never support trophy hunting.  Food, clothing, controlling a certain animal population or disease...those are the ONLY reasons where hunting an animal should be allowed!!!

[hawkeye3210]

Now the brother of Cecil has been killed and the government had just put out a protective order limiting such killing.

Jericho, who is NOT Cecil's brother BTW, is alive and well.

Thank-you for the correction.  I am so very happy to say that Jericho is NOT dead.  However, I can never support trophy hunting.  Food, clothing, controlling a certain animal population or disease...those are the ONLY reasons where hunting an animal should be allowed!!!

Trophy hunting isn't mutually exclusive from any of those other reasons.