Cecil The lion

I just can't relate to the idea of killing animals for pleasure. This guy just seems to be a colossal @r$eh0!e. He has 43 kills, including a polar bear documented on a hunting website. I just can't think what it must be like to be in his brain.

Having said that, I am not a vegetarian, so therefore have animals killed on my behalf for my "pleasure" (I could get my nutrition from other non-animal sources). My hypocrisy bothers me somewhat, but not enough to become vegetarian, I guess.

The sad follow on is that the new dominant male lion in the pride is almost certain to kill all of Cecil's 6 cubs.

But the really sad bottom line is that all the big wild cats in the world will be extinct in a couple of decades due to hunting, poaching and habitat destruction. While the human population continues to decimate the planet, fighting against d%$#heads like this guy makes us feel better but really makes no difference in the long run. A future intelligence, evolved from the parched, smoking ruins of our civilization, will look back on the vanishingly brief reign of homo sapiens and think "They really stuffed that up, didn't they?"

I suspect he's going to regret this. Hopefully other 'hunters' will take note. 

I really reallyhope you are right. I spent half an hour last night 'upticking' all the business "comments" on yelp etc.

I liked the one asking all customers of his to hire an attorney to check old bills for overcharging and unnecessary dental work, given the huge amount of money this guy can lavish on sticking an arrow in big game, hopefully his accounts and business will be 'open season' soon!

Facebook is awash with this story, and the impact it has had on him and his business, so I'm sure he will regret it, or at least regret the fallout.  I'm also sure he will be hunting again in the future and that he will still try to justify it when he does so.

I read a quote from him saying he didn't think he'd done anything wrong.

He kills a lion and thinks he hasn't done anything WRONG??????

What sort of a cretin is he?

Why anyone can think of killing an animal for 'sport' is right is beyond me.

steve (Yes, I am a vegetarian)

No, behaving like a domestic cat is no excuse. 

Hunting and especially of this kind is disgusting. Killing animals as fun should be punished with severe punishments. I almost would like to donate to ensure that somebody would hunt this guy down...., but I am civil and won't do that, nevertheless I am very upset by these type of guys...

My views are very much in line with others on here.  It seems this dentist, having expressed some regret for killing the lion because it was something of a celebrity (as if killing any other lion was somehow ok?!), has now gone into hiding.  My reaction was: 'good'.  Even if he isn't dragged back to Zimbabwe to face prosecution - does the USA have extradition provision for this short of thing? - I hope this episode caused this idiot some serious grief.  

Hunting animals on the brink of extinction is wrong in every way, and this idiot is perhaps even worse than those who kill elephants and rhinos in order to feed their family. At least they do it out of nessecity and not to cross something off a list. It appears that the article mentions that rules were followed in this case and that can be problematic. In order to avoid these concerns it should be illegal and punishable by law in his own country to hunt any red listed animals in any country no matter what.

However unethical it may appear to those of us who doesn't hunt should consider the fact that apart from animals on the red list hunting is beneficial on many levels. Populations of wild animals can be controlled to avoid starvation and disease of the herds and help maintain pastures, one can avoid problems associated with disease spread by ticks, sheep farmers can co-exist on a manageable level with predators, cultural traditions are maintained and jobs are created etc.

I know several who go hunting and they all have the greatest respect for the animal they kill and if they feel excited about the fact that they do shoot a wild animal then that's fine by me. I'd be worried if they didn't. One should also consider that the animal hunted down has in fact had a far better life than the one ending up on the platter after having lived a very restricted life in an industrial "meat factory".

Lets hope the moron's business folds and he fails to make the payments on his house so he has nowhere to store his "trophies".  He can spend the rest of his life pondering over what he has done.  A thoroughly miserable existence on the margins of society for all to see and to heed rather than have him sent back to Zimbabwe out of sight and out of mind.  He is a real piece of work by all accounts not just with animals.

He is the most hated man on the planet right now, and for good reason! 

BTW Some of the Yelp reviews are priceless, hurry and see them before the Yelp reviewers remove even more of them.

This boy is probably mourning the lion too.

USA extradition arrangements only seem to work one way though

Just a couple of bits of information to interrupt the testosterone. Like many here I don't hunt myself nor care to. Nor do I think much of hunting large game period and certainly not endangered species. However, according to the dentist's lawyer  he 1) had no idea the animal he was after was this special animal, 2) his activity was through two licensed hunting guides, 3) the hunting guides assured him all appropriate permits for the hunt had been obtained, 4) the licensed guides lured the animal in question out of the sanctuary and it is not clear what they knew, 5) the dentist in question has committed to full cooperation in any inquiry. 

Among the English speaking peoples we have concepts called due process and the rule of law. The concepts come to us from the Magna Carta which is celebrating a birthday this year. Evidence of this thread suggests you all might want to read that document again or perhaps for the first time. Or, I suppose you could just do the ISIS thing and behead our dentist friend.

All that would be fine if he didn't have previous for illegally hunting and lying about it, and even then the ethics of hunting is questionable if legal

I just had two crowns done, and felt like beheading my dentist a few times...with a drill.

In the end he beheaded my wallet.

I strongly believe in these principles myself, but I cannot help but feel a little ashamed about those who have their civil rights removed because of suspicion only. So before we are carried away by fine principles we should perhaps ask some of the Guantanamo inmates who have been wrongfully imprisoned, if they celebrate Magna Carta as well?

As I said in my former post; maybe it would be best if it was illegal to hunt endangered species in any part of the world. In my country you can be charged for any crime in or outside the country. Maybe it could prevent idiots from making dubious ethical choices and not hunt lions, rhinos and elephants.

Hey, Bungalow Bill
What did you kill, Bungalow Bill?
Hey, Bungalow Bill
What did you kill, Bungalow Bill?

He went out lion hunting with his elephant and gun
In case of accidents he always took his mom
He's the all American bullet-headed Saxon mother's son
All the children sing

Hey, Bungalow Bill
What did you kill, Bungalow Bill?
Hey, Bungalow Bill
What did you kill, Bungalow Bill?

Deep in the jungle where the mighty tiger lies
Bill and his elephants were taken by surprise
So Captain Marvel zapped in right between the eyes, zap!
All the children sing

Hey, Bungalow Bill
What did you kill, Bungalow Bill?
Hey, Bungalow Bill
What did you kill, Bungalow Bill?

The children asked him if to kill was not a sin
"Not when he looked so fierce", his mummy butted in
If looks could kill it would have been us instead of him
All the children sing

Hey, Bungalow Bill
What did you kill, bungalow Bill?
Hey, cavity to fill?
Use your own drill, Bungalow Bill?

Why did the guy not just join his local US Police dept. Nobody would have cared half as much if he was going around shooting people.

Much as I find the shooting of animals for sport abhorrent I do think the romantic anthropomorphism of 'Cecil' has somewhat skewed the degree of vitriol poured upon him. If only we paid as much attention to the dumb people who kill other people. I also note that sport shooting destroys hundreds of thousands of less cuddly animals, many of whom are bred for the purpose but are equally discarded even when they could actually be used for food. Nobody seems to blink about this. Other animals are destroyed for spurious health products largely for the Asian market.

For me if you are going to kill an animal do it for food and respect the product it generates.

Bruce

What would you expect to hear from a paid advocate? All sounds very benign. He has a right to defend himself I agree. Maybe he's hotfooting it back to Zimbabwe now to help clear up this mess he didn't create...

Cecil's lawyer stated that many big game hunters (with legally held licences and hired guides with permits) had been doing naughty things like trying to hunt game in areas they shouldn't) because it's easier, more likely there will be a kill and most game have no means of legal defence in the media.

Cecil however would like to say he's sorry for bleeding all over that guy's shoes while his head was chopped off and skinned.

What a hyperbolic and inappropriate post! Maybe because the topic under discussion occurred on the African continent? Why not also post some pics of Ebola or AIDS victims, or marauding warlords mourning the lion?

My guess would be that if this child's dad made some secondary money off the hunt of Cecil he/she'd be more than grateful to reap the benefits of that income.

Then why do they kill them?

All this overpopulation and starvation stuff is so much twaddle. Nature will impose self limiting models on all populations  Human intervention is an excuse to play god.