Cecil the lion, 13-years-old, was the most well known big cat in Zimbabwe, and he was a big attraction at his wildlife park in part because he seemed to enjoy being around humans.

And then a dentist from Minnesota killed him. Dr. Walter Palmer allegedly paid $55k to kill an animal that could be extinct by 2050, with help from professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst. The way they did it is beyond terrible.

It's believed that Cecil was lured out of the national park into an adjacent hunting concession area with bait in the form of a freshly killed animal. At that point, the lion was shot with a bow and arrow, National Geographic reports. The dying lion, who was wearing a GPS collar, was then followed by the hunter for 40 hours before he was finally killed with a rifle. (Huffington Post)

Cecil was the head of his pride and had six cubs who will probably end up dead now.

Since animals cannot legally be killed within the confines of Hwange National Park, where Cecil lived with his pride, he was lured out in the middle of the night by Palmer and professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst, who later reported the incident—Bronkhorst implied that the essential mistake made was that “we did not know it was well-known lion.” Palmer shot Cecil (pictured below) with a bow and arrow, and finished the job 40 hours later with a gun. The hunters attempted to remove the lion’s collar [GPS tracking collar that was part of an Oxford research project], and he was left skinned and headless outside the park. His cubs will likely die too, when Jericho, Cecil’s successor, takes his place at the head of the pride. (Jezebel)

They tried to destroy the collar. DESTROY IT. But they failed.

Now, the hunters are in trouble.

"All persons implicated in this case are due to appear in court facing 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." (Telegraph)

And the fine dentist isn't getting off scot-free.

The American 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. (Globe and Mail)

Palmer has killed endangered animals in the past, and he doesn't make breaking laws to make his kill.

In 2008, court records show, he pleaded guilty to making a false statement to federal wildlife officials concerning the exact location of the slaying of a black bear during a guided hunt in Wisconsin. He was sentenced to a year probation. (Telegraph)

In the meantime, the general public is letting Dr. Palmer know that they're not happy about what he did.

The Facebook page for his practice was removed, probably because of the thousands of comments left by angry people. Yelp, however, is still a place for people to express themselves, and they are. Oh, boy, they are.

 

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