Conservationists and animal lovers alike are angered by the death of Cecil the lion, a well-known Zimbabwean lion allegedly killed by an American dentist.
“It’s a tragedy all around,” Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, told CTV News Channel Wednesday morning. “This animal is an icon.”
The hunter, 55-year-old Minnesota dentist Walter James Palmer, allegedly paid $50,000 for local guides to help him lure the protected animal from Hwange National Park during the night before shooting it with a crossbow, according to Zimbabwean conservationists.
“They didn’t kill it outright. He suffered for the next 40 hours,“ Rodrigues said.
After the lion died, a GPS collar used for research purposes was found around his neck, according to Rodrigues. He says the animal was then skinned and beheaded.
Two Zimbabwe men, a professional hunter and a farm owner, were in court Wednesday facing charges for allegedly hunting the lion. If convicted, they could face up to 15 years in prison.
African police say they are seeking the Minnesota dentist on poaching charges.
In a statement released through a public relations firm, Palmer said he relied on local guides to ensure a legal hunt.
"I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favourite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt," Palmer said. “I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion."
But Rodrigues insists the hunters did not have correct papers.
"It was illegal because there were no permits," Rodrigues said. "It's modern-day poaching."
Cecil’s death may soon be followed by the killing of his 12 cubs by a rival male lion, according to a wildlife expert at the Toronto Zoo.
“Obviously the females will try to protect their cubs, they’ll hide them and so on. If other nomadic males move in, then their chances are pretty slim of surviving,” Eric Cole, wildlife care manager at the Toronto Zoo, told CTV Toronto's Janice Golding.
The alleged $50,000 price tag for Cecil’s head pales in comparison to what the lion was worth in life, Rodrigues said. He estimates that Zimbabwe could have made “over $1 million” in tourism revenue.
As for poaching, the conservationist says it’s a cruel practice that needs to stop.
“It’s been going on for too long. There are too many of these incidents,” he said.
Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals weighed in on the animal's death on Wednesday and condemned the alleged killing.
"If, as has been reported, this dentist and his guides lured Cecil out of the park with food so as to shoot him on private property ... he needs to be extradited, charged, and, preferably, hanged," PETA said in a statement.
With files from CTV News Channel and The Associated Press
