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Cecil

Cecil at Hwange National Park in 2010
Species	Lion
Sex	Male
Born	c. 2002
Died	(2015-07-01)1 July 2015 (aged 13) Hwange District, Zimbabwe
Residence	Hwange National Park
Named after	Cecil Rhodes

Cecil (c. 2002 – 1 July 2015) was a male Southwest African lion (Panthera leo bleyenberghi) that lived primarily in the Hwange National Park in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe. The lion was a major attraction at the park and was being studied and tracked by the University of Oxford as part of a larger study.

Cecil was wounded with an arrow by Walter Palmer, an American recreational big-game hunter, was then tracked, and on 1 July 2015, approximately 40 hours later, killed with a rifle. He was 13 years old when killed.

The killing drew international media attention and sparked outrage among animal conservationists, politicians and celebrities, as well as a strong negative response against Palmer. Two men in Zimbabwe are being prosecuted in relation to the hunt. Palmer had a permit and was not charged with any crime. Authorities in Zimbabwe have said he is free to visit Zimbabwe as a tourist but not as a hunter.

Background

Cecil—named after Cecil Rhodes—and another lion believed to be Cecil's brother were noticed in Hwange National Park in 2008. In 2009, the two lions encountered an established pride, which resulted in a fight in which Cecil's brother was killed and both Cecil and the leader of the pride were seriously wounded; the leader was subsequently killed by park rangers because of the wounds it had received in the fight with Cecil. Cecil retreated to another part of the park where he eventually established his own pride which had up to 22 members. In 2013, Cecil was forced out from the area by two young male lions into the eastern border of the park. There, he created a coalition with another male lion named Jericho to establish two prides which consisted of Cecil, Jericho, half a dozen females and up to a dozen cubs sired by Cecil or Jericho.

Cecil was the best-known animal in the national park and was identifiable by his black-fringed mane and a GPS tracking collar. The lions in the park, including Cecil, have been studied by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford University as part of a scientific project that has run since 1999, and his movements had been followed since 2008. Of the 62 lions tagged during the study period, 34 have died, thereof 24 through sport hunting. Of adult male lions that were tagged inside the park, 72% were killed through sport hunting on areas near the park. One of the researchers on the project suggested that Cecil had become so popular because he was accustomed to people, allowing vehicles sometimes as close as 10 metres (33 ft), making it easy for tourists and researchers to photograph and observe him.

It is estimated there are around 25-30 thousand lions alive in Africa. In 2013, 49 hunted lion carcasses were exported from Zimbabwe as trophies; the 2005-2008 Zimbabwe hunt "off-take" (licensed kills) average was 42 lions per year.

Death

In June 2015, Walter Palmer, an American dentist and recreational game hunter from Minnesota, reportedly paid US$50,000 to a professional hunter / guide, Theo Bronkhorst, to enable him to kill a lion. Cecil was allegedly lured out of the sanctuary and then shot and wounded with an arrow. He was tracked, and approximately 40 hours later was killed with a rifle. He was then skinned and his head was removed. When his headless skeleton was found by park investigators, his tracking collar was missing.

Bronkhorst said in July, "We had obtained the permit for bow hunting, we had obtained the permit for the lion from the council." The two Zimbabweans were arrested by Zimbabwe police. Palmer had already returned to the United States, where he issued a statement that he had "relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt" and "deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion".

Reactions to the killing

Overseas

Cecil's killing created an outrage among animal conservationists, prompted responses from politicians and many other people. A number of celebrities publicly condemned Cecil's killing. Palmer received a flood of hate messages, and activists posted the dentist's private details online. The words "Lion Killer" were also spray-painted on the garage door at Palmer's Florida vacation home. Artists from around the world dedicated art to Cecil, including former Disney animator Aaron Blaise.

The killing of Cecil sparked a discussion among conservation organisations about the ethics and business of big-game hunting and a proposal for bills banning imports of lion trophies to the U.S. and European Union. These discussions have convinced three of the largest airlines in the U.S., American, Delta and United, to take the voluntary step of banning the transport of hunting trophies. Activists have also called on African countries to ban bow hunting, lion baiting, and hunting from hunting blinds. Global media and social media reaction has resulted in close to 1.2 million people signing online petition "Justice for Cecil", which calls on Zimbabwe's government to stop issuing hunting permits for endangered animals.

Safari Club International responded by suspending both Palmer's and Bronkhorst's memberships, stating that "those who intentionally take wildlife illegally should be prosecuted and punished to the maximum extent allowed by law." Late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel helped raise US$150,000 in donations in less than 24 hours to Oxford's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, which had been "responsible for tracking Cecil's activity and location".

In Zimbabwe

Cecil's killing went largely unnoticed in the animal's native Zimbabwe. The country's The Chronicle newspaper wrote: "It is not an overstatement that almost 99.99 percent of Zimbabweans didn’t know about this animal until Monday. Now we have just learnt, thanks to the British media, that we had Africa’s most famous lion all along, an icon!" The BBC's Farai Sevenzo wrote: "The lion's death has not registered much with the locals". At the same time, Zimbabwean officials stated that the killing of Cecil had already caused a drop in tourism revenues. A significant drop was noted in Hwange, where the lion had lived. Many international tourists, who had planned to see the lion, had cancelled their trips. "This killing is a huge loss to our tourism sector that was contributing immensely to the national wealth", said Emanuel Fundira, the president of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe. "We had a lot of people, in terms of visitors, coming in to the country to enjoy and view Cecil, so really this was a great loss," Fundira said, and that Cecil's presence was "a draw card," and compared his death to "the demise of an icon." The head of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, Karikoga Kaseke, said that tourism had been booming, but that Zimbabwe was now perceived as a country which was not interested in protecting and promoting animal rights, and this had also had a negative impact on the tourism sector.

Bryan Orford, a professional wildlife guide who worked in Hwange, calculates that with tourists from a single nearby lodge collectively paying US$9,800 per day, the revenue generated by having Cecil's photograph taken over five days would have been greater than someone paying a one-off fee of US$45,000 to hunt and kill the lion, with no hope of future revenue.

On 1 August 2015, in response to Cecil's killing, the hunting of lions, leopards and elephants along with all bow-hunting was immediately suspended in areas outside of Hwange National Park by Zimbabwe's environment minister, Oppah Muchinguri, who said, "All such hunts will only be conducted if confirmed and authorised in writing by the Director-general of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, and only if accompanied by parks staff whose costs will be met by the landowner". The moratorium was lifted after 10 days.

Government officials

Some high-level government officials publicly condemned the killing of Cecil. David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, told reporters that the United Kingdom plays "a leading role in preventing illegal wildlife trade", when he was asked about Cecil's death. His Africa Minister, Grant Shapps, described the incident as "barbaric hunting".

U.S. Congresswoman Betty McCollum, co-chair of the United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus, called for an investigation of Palmer and the killing.

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez introduced the Conserving Ecosystems by Ceasing the Importation of Large (CECIL) Animal Trophies Act, which "extend the import and export protections for a species listed under the Endangered Species Act to those that have been proposed for listing, thereby prohibiting the import of any trophies gleaned from Cecil’s killing without explicitly obtaining a permit from the Secretary of the Interior." The bill was cosponsored by Senators Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal, and Ben Cardin.

On 30 July 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution to strengthen the efforts to address illicit wildlife poaching and trafficking. Germany and Gabon were the sponsors of the resolution. Harald Braun, Germany's U.N. Ambassador, linked the resolution to the killing and said: "Like most people in the world we are outraged at what happened to this poor lion." Gabon's Foreign Minister Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet said that Cecil's killing was "a matter of deep concern for all countries in Africa".

Zimbabwe's acting information minister, Prisca Mupfumira, when questioned about Cecil's killing, asked, "What lion?"

At a press conference on 31 July 2015, Zimbabwe’s environment minister, Opa Muchinguri, said the hunter broke Zimbabwean law and needs to be held accountable. “We are appealing to the responsible authorities for his extradition to Zimbabwe". Muchinguri said in a press release that Palmer's actions had tarnished the image of Zimbabwe and placed further strain on the relationship between Zimbabwe and the U.S. She called on all conservationists and animal lovers to provide resources to help tackle poaching and other environmental concerns in Zimbabwe.

South African President Jacob Zuma declared on 11 August 2015: “What it sounds like from a distance that the hunter did not know that Cecil was so popular, just saw a lion, and killed a lion, and it’s Cecil, and Cecil is very well loved and it caused a problem, because everyone wants to go and see Cecil. I think it’s just an incident."

Jean Kapata, Zambia's minister of tourism, said "the West seemed more concerned with the welfare of a lion in Zimbabwe than of Africans themselves", and added that "In Africa, a human being is more important than an animal. I don’t know about the Western world."

Criminal investigations

On 7 July 2015, law enforcement officers of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority commenced an investigation after receiving information that a lion had been illegally killed on a farm near Hwange National Park. The investigation discovered that a lion had been illegally killed on the farm on 1 July 2015.

On 29 July 2015, Bronkhorst appeared in court at Victoria Falls and pleaded not guilty to a charge of "failing to prevent an unlawful hunt". He was granted bail at US$1,000 and was ordered to appear back in court on 5 August. Bronkhorst stated: "Palmer is a totally innocent party to this whole thing, and he has conducted and bought a hunt from me that was legitimate." Zimbabwe National Parks said in a statement that quotas are assigned to given areas and that Cecil was shot in an area without a quota for lion kills. On 5 August 2015, the case was adjourned until 28 September, when Bronkhorst's barrister was next available.

While one account said Honest Ndlovu, who occupies the land on which Cecil was killed, was charged on 29 July 2015 with allowing an illegal hunt on his land, his attorney said two days later that Ndlovu had not been, with parks officials saying days afterward that he would be charged after first testifying for the state. On 18 August 2015, prosecutors brought an illegal-hunting charge against Ndlovu.

Walter Palmer left Zimbabwe for the United States after the hunt. He expressed deep regret for the killing, maintaining that he had relied on the expertise of the local professional guides to ensure that the hunt was legal. He indicated that he would cooperate with authorities in the investigation. On 30 July 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was looking for Palmer as part of its investigation. He contacted them voluntarily through a representative on the same day.

On September 6, 2015, Palmer said he would be returning to his dental practice on September 9, and that he has not been charged with any crime in the US or Zimbabwe, nor has he been contacted by authorities. On October 12, Zimbabwe government officials said Palmer's papers were in order and Palmer would not be charged with any crime. They said in the future he was free to return to Zimbabwe as a tourist but not as a hunter.

Consequences for the pride

When one or more new male lions oust or replace a previous male(s) associated with a pride, they often kill any existing young cubs, a form of infanticide. Initially, both the Oxford University study and Johnny Rodrigues, head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, indicated that they believed Cecil's six cubs could be killed by the new dominant male in the pride. In a later interview, however, Rodrigues said Jericho had taken over the pride but had not killed Cecil's cubs, and that he was also keeping the cubs safe from any rival males.

Effect on conservation

Legal trophy hunts are widely used to raise funds for conservation and prevention of poaching. Legal and social deterrents to trophy hunting may have negative effects on conservation efforts. Legal trophy hunt fees are usually many multiples of the poach value of animals, encouraging communities to prevent poaching, and to restore habitats. Pohamba Shifeta, the Namibian environment and tourism minister, said, "This will be the end of conservation in Namibia." Trophy hunting can also be used for herd management, to cull undesirable animals. Melissa Simpson, the director of conservation for Safari Club International, said, "As with the regulated hunters in the United States, the regulated hunters in Africa make a vital contribution to conservation efforts, primarily through the revenues their hunting expeditions generate for local communities and wildlife resource agencies."

See also

• Big five game
• Game law
• International Anti-Poaching Foundation

References

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External links

• Cecil - Africa's Biggest Lion on YouTube. Uploaded by YouTube user Pamela Robinson on 14 September 2014.
• Orford, Brian. "Cecil the lion at Zimbabwe's Hwange national park – archive video footage". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2 August 2015.

• 2002 animal births
• 2015 animal deaths
• 2015 controversies
• 2015 in Zimbabwe
• Cat conservation
• Hunting
• Hwange District
• Individual lions
• United States–Zimbabwe relations