by illustration_hft, despositphotos
By now, I’m sure many of you are aware of the poaching death of Cecil the lion, a local favorite in Zimbabwe. The thirteen-year-old lion has been tracked by the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit in Oxford's Department of Zoology, making him very beloved by those who knew of him. I won’t go into the gory details, but let’s just say, Cecil suffered needlessly, which is in part causing all the outrage. The other part was due to the fact he was a protected animal that was lured out of his sanctuary at the Hwange National park in Zimbabwe. The “trophy" hunter who took down Cecil – a Minnesotan dentist, I’m afraid – is currently a fugitive and due to international outrage, he’s being sought for extradition to face charges in Zimbabwe for the illegal hunt.
It’s not the first poaching conviction for Palmer, either, who has one on record for killing a black bear in Wisconsin in 2006, then lying to authorities about where he killed it. Despite going underground, Palmer did issue a statement claiming he was misled by local guides to believing the hunt was legal, and he had no idea the lion he shot was “a local favorite." The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement had been trying to reach Palmer, who reportedly did voluntarily reach out to them – though what their exchange was about has not been revealed. Despite Palmer’s claims that he thought the hunt was legal, Oppah Muchinguri, Zimbabwe Environment Minister, openly condemned the killing of Cecil as “deliberate" and “illegal."
Due to his death on July 1st, Cecil leaves behind an estimated ten cubs and authorities feared early on that meant certain death for each of them. In a fortunate twist of events, Jericho – Cecil’s pride and coalition brother (not blood brother) – has adopted, rather than kill Cecil’s cubs. In a weird way, it almost reminds me of the Lion King, except in this version, the brother actually has turned out to be a hero. The conservation believes there could be reason for some of the cubs to be Jericho’s, which gives him and the lioness incentive to keep them alive.
The story doesn’t stop there, however. On August 1st, 2015, reports circled the web claiming Jericho had become the next lion to perish as a result of poachers. As you can imagine, this sparked even more of an outcry to stop the illegal hunting of these animals. As it turns out, though, the reports were inaccurate, as Jericho was spotted alive and well on August 2nd and images of him were tweeted out by Oxford University.
Johnny Rodrigues, the head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, which gave the inaccurate information, claimed it was all a case of mistaken identity. Fortunately for all except the true victim, the pride is still in tact and the little cubs are still under the watchful eye of Jericho. From all accounts, the lion that was slain really had unfortunately not been named and the poachers have yet to be caught.
As a Minnesotan myself, I struggle with finding the mentality of Mr. Palmer to be acceptable. Truthfully, I’m saddened and embarrassed to have this happen and the Minnesotan legacy tied to it. While I accept hunting to be necessary in certain circumstances, hunting for the sport of having a head on a mantle piece – not to eat, not to keep the population under control – seems ruthless. However, that’s just this one girl’s opinion over the matter. I’m relieved to know that his cubs have not succumbed to the brutality of nature and a fate not unlike their father. My only hope is that it stays that way.
What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you feel authorities have gone too far? Or do you believe Walter Palmer should be extradited and face judgment in Zimbabwe? Leave us your comments below. Let’s have a discussion.
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Carissa Andrews is a passionate author and freelancer from Minnesota with a focus in creative writing.