There is nothing I find more disgraceful than trophy hunters with no morals. I can stomach a trophy hunter, but not the ones who are only concerned with mounting heads on their wall.

It is said that Cecil the Lion (a rare black maned lion) is one of the biggest African lions still alive and he is actually a protected animal on a National preserve there in Zimbabwe. Cecil was about 13 years old and actually wears a collar and has been studied for years by Oxford University since 1999. Cecil was a well-known lion there, loved by thousands and a protected animal living his life out on a protected reserve.

Cecil is now dead after being shot with a crossbow by a rich trophy hunter who only cared about mounting another lion on the wall of his Minnesota home. Cecil didn't die quickly though. The hunters had to track him down for over 40 hours before finding him and then shooting him with a rifle.

Here is where I have an issue with this hunt.

Theo Bronkhorst is a professional hunter who was hired by Walter Palmer. Regardless of what really happened, the company owned by Bronkhorst didn't have an permits to kill lions and the land owner didn't have a quota for lions on his property either.

There are two different accounts to what happened. Bronkhorst claims that they had laid out bait for a leopard hunt and that Cecil came across the kill and the order was given by Bronkhorst for Palmer to take the shot.


Theo Bronkhorst, along with the landowner Honest Trymore Ndlovu who owns the Antionette farm in Gwayi Conservancy in the Hwange district in Zimbabwe, were in court today and freed on a $1000 bail saying they are 100% innocent. If found guilty at a later trial, they could face up to 10 years in prison.  

So will anything come of this? Here is a statement from Lion Aid,

He (Bronkhorst) will likely abscond rather than face trial unless he is confident of the possible bribes he has paid to an entirely corrupt judiciary. The concession (land) owner is allegedly related to the Zimbabwe Minister of Transport and will therefore be immune from prosecution - Lion Aid

While it does sound like many are "on the take" for these hunts in Africa, it will be hard for any of them to prove this hunt was legal. As for Walter Palmer, he has issued a statement that he deeply regrets taking this lion and was only following the lead of the man he hired. To be honest, there is probably truth in the fact that you have to believe what your guide says as it would be hard for someone who doesn't live there to know all the laws, regulations etc. that go into a hunt.

That being said, as a hunter paying $55,000, you would probably ask to see all the paperwork to make sure. But, Palmer has faced prosecution before for killing a trophy Elk in a protected habitat in California in 2009 (paid $45,000 for the hunt) and also paid fines and lied to an undercover agent about killing a black bear in Wisconsin out of his permitted zone in 2006. My guess is that Walter Palmer has a long history of "playing dumb."

Walter Palmer has received thousands of death threats and has had to close his dental practice and has gone into hiding. I do admit that the title is a bit misleading because no one is really sure where the head and hide of Cecil is. I can only hope Walter Palmer will feel too guilty to now display this majestic lion in his home. At the same time, I do hope his head and hide are displayed as a way to honor him in the right place.

The sad thing though is that experts say that Cecil's heritage probably won't live on. Cecil had three cubs but the other male, Jericho, will probably kill the cubs so that he can insert his own bloodline into the pride.

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