Zimbabwe
Conservation Task Force alleges trophy hunter shot one of Africa’s most famous
lions near Hwange national park
The Guardian, Ashifa Kassam and Jessica Glenza, 28 July 2015
Conservationists in
Zimbabwe have accused an American man of being the alleged killer of Cecil, one
of Africa’s most famous lions and the star attraction at the Hwange national
park.
On Tuesday,
the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said the man thought to have paid $50,000
(£32,000) for the chance to kill Cecil was not a Spaniard as originally believed, but US citizen Walter Palmer, from a small town near Minneapolis. The
man left the lion skinned and headless on the outskirts of the park, the ZCTF’s
Johnny Rodrigues said in a statement.
The hunt
took place around 6 July. “They went hunting at night with a spotlight and they
spotted Cecil,” Rodrigues said. “They tied a dead animal to their vehicle to
lure Cecil out of the park and they scented an area about half a kilometre from
the park.”
The hunter first shot at Cecil with a bow and arrow but failed to kill the lion. “They tracked him down and found him 40 hours later when they shot him with a gun,” Rodrigues said.
 |
| Walt Palmer, left, and one of his many trophies. |
The hunter first shot at Cecil with a bow and arrow but failed to kill the lion. “They tracked him down and found him 40 hours later when they shot him with a gun,” Rodrigues said.
A spokesman
for Palmer told the Guardian that the hunter was “obviously quite upset over
everything”.
“As far as
I understand, Walter believes that he might have shot that lion that has been
referred to as Cecil,” the spokesman said. “What he’ll tell you is that he had
the proper legal permits and he had hired several professional guides, so he’s
not denying that he may be the person who shot this lion. He is a big-game
hunter; he hunts the world over.”
On Tuesday,
Palmer - a dentist and married father of two - became a target as the Facebook
page of his dental clinic was flooded with angry comments and threats. An
online petition demanding justice for Cecil had gathered more than 12,000
signatures.
Palmer’s
love of hunting is well-documented online. In 2009, he was interviewed by the
New York Times about his slaying of an elk that was touted as a kill for the
archery record books.
Noting that
Palmer had learned to shoot at age five and was “capable of skewering a playing
card from 100 yards with his compound bow,” the article said Palmer had paid
$45,000 at auction to take part in the hunt, with the proceeds being used to
help fund the elk habitat. As the hunting season began, Palmer was on probation
for lying to authorities over the exact location where he had killed a black
bear in northern Wisconsin in 2006.
A 2008
Flickr photo album by Trophy Hunt America and Porcupine Creek Outfitters, a
company that leads hunting expeditions, shows Walter Palmer posing next to avariety of slain animals, including a wood bison and a lion. In another online
photo Palmer and his bow and arrow sit next to a slain rhino, the captionstating that the photo was taken in South Africa.
The same
company advertises trips to Africa, under the name Safari Connection.
Photographs to advertise the company’s services show hunters posed next to
elephants. Other expeditions show hunters posed next to polar bears amid snowy
backdrops.
Two people
who accompanied the hunter on his Zimbabwe trip were identified by authorities
and arrested earlier this month, including Theo Bronkhorst, the founder of
Bushman Safaris Zimbabwe which is believed to have organised the hunt. Both are
facing poaching charges and due to appear in court in early August.
Zimbabwe
National Parks confirmed the charges. “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,” it said in a statement.
Bronkhorst’s hunting license has been suspended and efforts were being made to
interview another employee of Bushman Safaris who was believed to have also
taken part in the hunt.
The
13-year-old lion was wearing a GPS collar as part of an Oxford University
research project that had been running since 1999, making it possible to trace
his last movements. Rodrigues said the hunters tried to destroy the collar, but
failed.
The death of Cecil comes as Zimbabwe, like many countries in Africa, attempts to crack down on illegal hunting and poaching, said Rodrigues. “This has been going on too long. Cecil is the 23 or 24th lion that has been collared and then killed in Hwange. We have to try and stop it.”
 |
| Walt Palmer and a Nevada California Bighorn. |
The death of Cecil comes as Zimbabwe, like many countries in Africa, attempts to crack down on illegal hunting and poaching, said Rodrigues. “This has been going on too long. Cecil is the 23 or 24th lion that has been collared and then killed in Hwange. We have to try and stop it.”
Initially
his organisation had said the whereabouts of Cecil’s head was unknown, sparking
concerns that it would be sent abroad as a trophy. The fear brought
conservationists and politicians together this week to call on the European
Union to ban the import of lion heads, paws and skins as hunters’ trophies from
African countries that cannot prove their lion populations are sustainable.
On Tuesday,
Rodrigues said the head of the lion had been located in Zimbabwe and had been
impounded to be used as evidence in the investigation.
The ZCTF
said on Tuesday that it continued to mourn Cecil. Rodrigues pointed out that
the hunter was believed to have paid just $50,000 to kill a creature that would
have brought millions of dollars worth of tourism to the reserve.
Conservation
authorities said they were also dealing with the likely consequences of Cecil’s
death for his six cubs. “The saddest part of all is that now that Cecil is
dead, the next lion in the hierarchy, Jericho, will most likely kill all
Cecil’s cubs so that he can insert his own bloodline into the females.”
 |
Cecil was a
major tourist attraction at Zimbabwe's largest game reserve in
Hwange
National Park, due to his distinctive black mane (AFP Photo)
|
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Bustard act: Saudi prince accused of slaying 2,000 near-extinct birds while on safari in Pakistan (April 24, 2014)
 |
Hunt: Fahd
bin Sultan is said to have killed
1,977
houbara bustards in just 21 days while
on holiday
|
 |
Spain's
King Juan Carlos poses in front of a dead elephant
on a
hunting trip in Botswana, Africa. Photograph: Target
Press/Barcroft Media
|
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Question: Dear Kryon: I live in Spain. I am sorry if I will ask you a question you might have already answered, but the translations of your books are very slow and I might not have gathered all information you have already given. I am quite concerned about abandoned animals. It seems that many people buy animals for their children and as soon as they grow, they set them out somewhere. Recently I had the occasion to see a small kitten in the middle of the street. I did not immediately react, since I could have stopped and taken it, without getting out of the car. So, I went on and at the first occasion I could turn, I went back to see if I could take the kitten, but it was to late, somebody had already killed it. This happened some month ago, but I still feel very sorry for that kitten. I just would like to know, what kind of entity are these animals and how does this fit in our world. Are these entities which choose this kind of life, like we do choose our kind of Human life? I see so many abandoned animals and every time I see one, my heart aches... I would like to know more about them.
Answer: Dear one, indeed the answer has been given, but let us give it again so you all understand. Animals are here on earth for three (3) reasons.
(1) The balance of biological life. . . the circle of energy that is needed for you to exist in what you call "nature."
(2) To be harvested. Yes, it's true. Many exist for your sustenance, and this is appropriate. It is a harmony between Human and animal, and always has. Remember the buffalo that willingly came into the indigenous tribes to be sacrificed when called? These are stories that you should examine again. The inappropriateness of today's culture is how these precious creatures are treated. Did you know that if there was an honoring ceremony at their death, they would nourish you better? Did you know that there is ceremony that could benefit all of humanity in this way. Perhaps it's time you saw it.
(3) To be loved and to love. For many cultures, animals serve as surrogate children, loved and taken care of. It gives Humans a chance to show compassion when they need it, and to have unconditional love when they need it. This is extremely important to many, and provides balance and centering for many.
Do animals know all this? At a basic level, they do. Not in the way you "know," but in a cellular awareness they understand that they are here in service to planet earth. If you honor them in all three instances, then balance will be the result. Your feelings about their treatment is important. Temper your reactions with the spiritual logic of their appropriateness and their service to humanity. Honor them in all three cases.
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