Zimbabwe's 'iconic' lion Cecil killed by hunter

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Flutterby
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Re: Zimbabwe's 'iconic' lion Cecil killed by hunter

Post by Flutterby »

I’d love to go hunting one day with Dr Walter Palmer the killer dentist... so I can stuff and mount him for MY office wall

By PIERS MORGAN FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 17:56 GMT, 28 July 2015


Dr Walter Palmer is a dentist in the human happiness business. His website, at the River Bluff Dental clinic in Minnesota, says he ‘strives to create dazzling smiles’.
For 27 years this self-anointed kindly man has showered his patients with extraordinary care and comfort, ensuring they leave his surgery immeasurably more self-confident than when they entered. His official photograph on the website exudes almost Saintly virtue; Palmer’s own gleaming dentures shining beatifically beneath his warm, bespectacled, twinkling eyes. But there’s another side to Dr Palmer. A side he alludes to right at the very end of a Q&A on the same website. ‘What are you passionate about aside from dentistry?’ reads the question. ‘I am nationally and internationally award-winning archer,’ he answers, proudly, adding that he enjoys ‘staying active and observing and photographing wildlife.’ Only he doesn’t just observe or photograph the wildlife. The ‘awards’ that Dr Palmer, 55, likes to win are the severed heads and limbs of the world’s finest animals. The bigger the beast the better: lions, tigers, rhinos, bison, elks, anything that looks great in his snuff trophy cabinet. Dr Palmer tours the jungles, prairies and safari parks of the world hunting his prey. He pays a fortune for this privilege, and he absolutely loves it. But that enthusiasm slightly spilled over on July 6, after he paid over $50,000 for the chance to hunt and kill a lion called Cecil in Zimbabwe.

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.

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.

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 take 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.

It’s just ‘the law of the jungle’ and anyway, he’s at an age now where this would be the ‘humane’ thing to do. Like Cecil, he’s an ageing, greying creature eeking out the last quarter of his life. He’s going to die soon enough anyway, right? Once we’d finished our jubilant paparazzi session, we would then take Dr Palmer’s head and skin and have them framed for our office walls. A gleaming monument to our great skill and courage. I’d even keep his teeth, so we could forever see his ‘dazzling smile’.


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Re: Zimbabwe's 'iconic' lion Cecil killed by hunter

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JOINT PRESS STATEMENT BY ZIMBABWE PARKS AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY AND SAFARI OPERATORS ASSOCIATION OF ZIMBABWE ON THE ILLEGAL HUNT OF A COLLARED LION AT ANTOINETTE FARM, HWANGE DISTRICT ON 1 JULY 2015 IN GWAYI CONSERVANCY BY BUSHMAN SAFARIS PROFESSIONAL HUNTER, THEO BRONKHORST.

Theo Bronchorst, a professional hunter with Bushman Safaris is facing criminal charges (VIC FALLS Police CR 27/07/2015) for allegedly killing a collared lion on Antoinette farm in Gwayi Conservancy, Hwange district on 1 July 2015. The lion named ‘Cecil’ was well known and regularly sighted by tourists in the Main camp area of Hwange National Park. It is alleged that the hunter connived with the Antoinette land owner, Mr. Honest Trymore Ndlovu to kill the lion. Ongoing investigations to date, suggest that the killing of the lion was illegal since the land owner was not allocated a lion on his hunting quota for 2015. Therefore, all persons implicated in this case are due to appear in court facing poaching charges.

Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management as the Regulatory Authority and custodian of all wild animals in Zimbabwe issues hunting permits and hunting quota for all hunting areas in Zimbabwe so that only animals on quota are to be hunted. In this case, 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.

Both professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst’s licence number 553 who was involved in the hunt and the owner of Antoinette farm, Mr. Honest Trymore Ndlovu are being jointly charged for illegally hunting the lion. The two are due to appear in court on Wednesday, 29 July 2015. Efforts are being made to interview the other professional hunter, Zane Bronkhorst, licence number 558, who was also involved in the illegal hunt.

The Professional Hunter Theo Bronkhosrt’s Licence has been suspended with immediate effect. The lion trophy has also been confiscated. The relevant stakeholders have been informed and are being updated about this matter.



……………………………………………..
E. CHIDZIYA
DIRECTOR GENERAL
ZPWMA

E.A. FUNDIRA
PRESIDENT
SOAZ


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Re: Zimbabwe's 'iconic' lion Cecil killed by hunter

Post by Richprins »

Lots more to this story, and familiar PR going on, methinks...this is STILL going on in all the major international news networks.

I'm pretty sure the dentist is innocent, myself.


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Re: Zimbabwe's 'iconic' lion Cecil killed by hunter

Post by nan »

I think so too...


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Re: Zimbabwe's 'iconic' lion Cecil killed by hunter

Post by Lisbeth »

And the photo ? Is it him or is it not -O- Is the lion Cecil or another lion? -O-

Why do you think, that he is innocent, RP? Obviously it is not the first time he has been mixed up in this kind of issue -O-


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nan
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Re: Zimbabwe's 'iconic' lion Cecil killed by hunter

Post by nan »

because "guide/bandit" lies to him... in not saying this Lion is "Cecil" 0*\ 0'


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Re: Zimbabwe's 'iconic' lion Cecil killed by hunter

Post by Lisbeth »

Is Cecil dead? yes!!


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Re: Zimbabwe's 'iconic' lion Cecil killed by hunter

Post by Bushcraft »

I’m trying to wrap my head around this.

Is the hype only because the lion is Cecil, I think so as other lions are hunted every week and we don’t hear an outcry about that

It would be interesting if it was humans “Sorry I shot the wrong man, I meant to shoot a different man” 0*\

For me personally he shot a lion for his own personal ego boost, not because he needed to, therefore even though he killed the wrong lion and didn’t know it was the wrong lion, he still pulled the trigger.


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Re: Zimbabwe's 'iconic' lion Cecil killed by hunter

Post by Lisbeth »

\O \O


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Re: Zimbabwe's 'iconic' lion Cecil killed by hunter

Post by nan »

Bushcraft wrote: therefore even though he killed the wrong lion and didn’t know it was the wrong lion, he still pulled the trigger.
exactly what I'm trying to say 0*\ :o0ps:


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