2015/18: The killing of Cecil the lion: should trophy hunting be banned in Africa?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:On October 12, 2015 Complex News reported that United States dentist, Walter Palmer, would not face charges in Zimbabwe for the killing of a dark-maned lion, Cecil, three and a half months before. It has been claimed that the lion was illegally lured from a national park in order to be shot. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said...
'Trophy hunting creates thousands of jobs and therefore supports thousands of families'
Marina Lamprecht of Hunters Namibia Safaris
'[T]rophy hunters...kill around 105,000 animals in Africa every year, including 600 elephants and 800 leopards, at a time when every individual is crucial to the survival of the species'
Ameena Schelling, writing for the online conservation publication The Dodo
The issue at a glance
On October 12, 2015, Zimbabwean officials ruled that United States dentist, Walter Palmer, had no case to answer for the fatal shooting of Cecil, a 12-year-old dark-maned lion, well-known throughout Zimbabwe and studied as part of Oxford University's lion project.
Cecil, a collared lion living in the Hwange National Park in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe, should not have been targeted. He is believed to have been lured out of the park in order to be shot.
Cecil was shot and wounded with a bow and arrow by Dr Palmer and finally killed by the same hunter some forty hours later, on July 1, 2015. Dr Palmer had paid $US55,000 for the hunt. When news of the kill was reported there was international outrage and calls for the end of trophy hunting across Africa.
The dismissal of charges against Dr Palmer has provoked a further outcry as Zimbabwean officials originally claimed that 'Both the professional hunter and land owner had no permit or quota to justify the off take of the lion and therefore are liable for the illegal hunt.' The subsequent decision not to take action against Dr Palmer has been condemned by some as a sop to international hunters, designed to reassure them that they can hunt in Zimbabwe without fear of prosecution.
Supporters of trophy hunting argue such hunts actually aid wildlife conservation and provide other benefits to African communities. One animal death, the legality of which is disputed, is not, they claim, grounds for ending trophy hunting.