An American Dentist Killed Zimbabwe’s Famous Lion

[Stelth]

The story I read wasn't very clear about the circumstances. There are places in the world where you can legally shoot/kill various big animals - lions, tigers, bears, elephants, cape buffalo, etc. Some find it abhorrent, but it is legal in some places.

I doubt that this dentist set out to kill Cecil the lion. Nonetheless, there are certainly some disturbing things about the story, such as the possible spotlighting of the animal, luring it out of a park, and the wounding and 40-hour follow up to kill the suffering beast. As some have pointed out, it's one thing to hunt an animal, it's another to pay money for the privilege of executing it.

I'd like to hear the full story, but right now, the dentist doesn't seem like much of a "sportsman."

 

[Joe_Power]

Awesome!! I wish I could afford a hunt like this. I'd love to have that trophy mount on my wall.

 

[Rick in PA]

With news reports like this, The Onion may become irrelevant.
The line between reality and farce is becoming blurred.
So sad.

 

[hattaresguy]

To bad he didn't use a nice H&H rifle.

Good old fashion safari.

 

[CT8]

So! But just realize how many animals are poached in Africa for body parts. I can't see killing for the sake of killing . Too bad the American public wouldn't get as stirred up for example by the disease and parasite ridden welfare leaning illegal aliens?Or the corruption in the government instead of a guy killing a lion.How tax $$$ are squandered.

 

[morepwr]

Originally Posted By: Benito
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
This is a slippery slope, animals are butchered every day for our tables, raised under abhorrent conditions for the purpose of being killed and consumed.


Exactly, we find the lion's death abhorrent because it's a magnificent animal and money was involved, but will go back to grilling our burgers with meat from 100-400 cows, some of which must have suffered.

(Btw I know that many here only consume meat from humanely raised animals).


I would agree if the lion was actually used and not just beheaded so the guy can put a trophy on his wall and the rest is left to rot.

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: morepwr
Originally Posted By: Benito
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
This is a slippery slope, animals are butchered every day for our tables, raised under abhorrent conditions for the purpose of being killed and consumed.


Exactly, we find the lion's death abhorrent because it's a magnificent animal and money was involved, but will go back to grilling our burgers with meat from 100-400 cows, some of which must have suffered.

(Btw I know that many here only consume meat from humanely raised animals).


I would agree if the lion was actually used and not just beheaded so the guy can put a trophy on his wall and the rest is left to rot.
My relatives have an 900 acre ranch and their cattle have a nice life and are treated with respect until butchered, I had some land for a while I raised feeders and they had a great life . Have you ever seen a prey animal eaten basically alive by predators? I have it is not pretty. I am not impressed by trophy hunting though. For food or control yes . If the guy committed a crime in killing the animal a punishment should be had..

 

[turtlevette]

Dentists are tools in general. If I spent all day with my fingers in people's mouths, I'd probably blow my brains out after just a few years.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I have no problem with hunting for food or population control. I don't hunt, but I don't have a problem with those who do. That being said, I find it repugnant when someone kills just to kill and mount a dead animal head on their wall. People that do that are, in my opinion, disgusting.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I have no problem with hunting for food or population control. I don't hunt, but I don't have a problem with those who do. That being said, I find it repugnant when someone kills just to kill and mount a dead animal head on their wall. People that do that are, in my opinion, disgusting.


We see eye to eye there Pop. I agree.
Trophy hunting gets no respect from me. Putting deer meat in your freezer, I'm a-ok with that.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Dentists are tools in general. If I spent all day with my fingers in people's mouths, I'd probably blow my brains out after just a few years.



don't forget the mercury poisoning part.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I have no problem with hunting for food or population control. I don't hunt, but I don't have a problem with those who do. That being said, I find it repugnant when someone kills just to kill and mount a dead animal head on their wall. People that do that are, in my opinion, disgusting.


We see eye to eye there Pop. I agree.
Trophy hunting gets no respect from me. Putting deer meat in your freezer, I'm a-ok with that.


+1,000. Lions and many other species (Elephants, Cheetah, Rhinos, etc) are threatened with extinction. Killing them just for bragging rights is repugnant.

 

[Shannow]

The baiting that the dentist engaged in to get it out of the sanctuary area was the lowest of the low. US needs to extradite him and expose him to the results of his actions.

His wounding the animal and chasing it for 40 hours is inexcusable...the outrage over removing of it's head means that the media circus around ISIS have got your attention exactly where they want it.

As to people paying to trophy hunt, their money, the country's laws, and the needs for conservation need to be respected.

A couple of animals taken by "hunters" willing to pay a small fortune probably does more for conservation than all the hand wringing on BITOG will ever achieve.

http://wwf.panda.org/?75340/A-numbers-game-Managing-elephants-in-southern-Africa

 

[Kruse]

Why is the press fixated on telling the world that this guy is a dentist? If he was an auto technician or a salesman, would that be in all the headlines?
Oh wait. Because most people think that dentists are wealthy, the press can get more sympathy with their story. Now it's clear.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted By: Kruse

Why is the press fixated on telling the world that this guy is a dentist? If he was an auto technician or a salesman, would that be in all the headlines?
Oh wait. Because most people think that dentists are wealthy, the press can get more sympathy with their story. Now it's clear.


IMO it implies a higher level of intelligence/judgment and as such he knew better.

If it was some 21 year old kid then people would just write it off as stupidity / maturity

 

[CourierDriver]

I just 12 ga , 6 Fram oil filters, I know, outrageous isn't it.

 

[whip]

What he did wasn't hunting, and from what I've read, he's not a very good hunter. It sounds like another case of more money than brains.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
To bad he didn't use a nice H&H rifle.

Good old fashion safari.


I wonder how many people here get that reference...

I do: my uncle has a H&H, though its was bigger than yu would use for a lion. (It is an elephant rifle in .577 Nitro.)

 

[Win]

Sheesh, who cares, it's not like the dentist shot Elsa or Clarence.

I'll worry more about illegals murdering citizens in "sanctuary" cities, thanks, or a zillion other things far more important to me than African corruption.

 

[hattaresguy]

I suspect none because no one understands how trophy hunting works. Nice rifle BTW.

1. Was the lion wasted?
No typically locals are poor and only to happy to take the meat. Nothing is wasted.

2. Why is a trophy hunt so expensive?

I don't know the exact details of this case, I suspect the media is way off as usual. Typically if you want to shoot say an elephant you need a permit. The local game wardens identify X number of animals to be removed each year. Typically they are older males who are blocking younger males from breeding. So the number of permits issued is very limited and as a result they are very expensive. I have heard of people paying $250k for some!

Its called herd and animal management. These poor countries lack resources to fight poachers, also the locals view a lot of the animals like elephants in this example as nuisance animals. By charging in some cases $200k to shoot an old animal they are able to gain resources they wouldn't otherwise have to fight poachers. The locals now also make money off this so they have an incentive to not help the poachers or kill the animals themselves.

Large game trophy hunting is actually doing a ton of good in Africa and is why a lot of animals are still around. FYI the Chinese are paying poachers to kill anything with a horn left and right so without it they would have probably shoot every last one by now. Its so bad that in some areas game warden's shoot and hunt the poachers.


The same limp wristed OMG its nature don't touch it, I don't understand it but save it attitude, is why wild forest fires sweep threw areas all the time. The forest and trees are not properly managed so nature does it. If controlled logging and underbrush removal was done so you had a healthy forest with large healthy trees they would be less common. Fires are natures way of achieving this.