Considering the general destruction of wildlife habitats and the number of species humans have decimated in historic time, it's slightly weird to see this outcry over a single individual.

Trophy hunting is about killing for pleasure. That's pretty despicable. It was rife in Britain's colonial past but those times are gone. And time those individuals who today get a kick out of killing were gone too.

So much sympathy for a dead lion, yet when people get murdered left and right, nobody bats an eye. Its so backwards...

Tim made a good point, but this individual animal was rather unique.

As a black-maned lion, his genetic markers are a little unusual. His habit of lying in the road within the preserve and his appearance made him a fairly reliable and remarkable photo opportunity. That translates into increased tourist draw.

Because it's commonplace for male African lions to kill the cubs of the alpha male, in order to have more of their own descendants, it's quite likely an entire generation of black-maned lions will be eliminated.

Trophy hunting isn't just about the pleasure of the kill, it's about the glory of killing the biggest, the fiercest, and sometimes, the rarest of a species. It's a competition for bragging rights.

Palmer made a reputation for himself for never taking a gun to back up his bowhunting before Cecil was killed (not taken). I guess he screwed up this time. He and his guides pursued the animal for 40 hours in order to finish it off with a gun.

Considering they skinned the lion, the men involved cannot possibly argue that they didn't know the animal was special. They would have seen the collar right off. Even if Palmer knew nothing before, he'd have known something about the animal then, and should have brought the incident to the attention of authorities, instead of running back to America.

I certainly agree that the killing of this lion was a crime in more ways than one, particularly since he had extra value as a tourist attraction. I hope the national park sues the hell out of Palmer, and I don't feel sorry for the idiot.

But legal and regulated trophy hunting can actually be a way to preserve big game species, particularly in Africa, the way controlled timber logging can be an incentive to preserve tropical forests rather than convert them into farm land.

The problem is that while the principle is good in theory, it's hard to carry out, when individually greedy and bad guys exploit the system with no care for the habitat, wildlife or the local populace.

Edit: funnily enough I just came across this article on the matter. 

In ending the life of Cecil, Mr Palmer ended his own, comfortable, selfish, irresponsible life. I have no sympathy for him or pity for his fate. Truly, he has reaped the whirlwind.

But good often comes from evil, and that may be a broader awareness of the plight of wildlife at the hands of mankind, not just in Africa - where it has now been at crisis levels for decades - but across the planet. Mankind is at the top of the food chain, but we can only stay there if we do all we can to maintain and foster rich biodiversity in the ecosystem.

This means economic and lifestyle costs for all of us. But the costs of not doing this will be our ultimate extinction.

http://www.itv.com/news/story/2015-07-31/zimbabwe-calls-for-extradition-of-hunter-walter-palmer/

 

But legal and regulated trophy hunting can actually be a way to preserve big game species, particularly in Africa, the way controlled timber logging can be an incentive to preserve tropical forests rather than convert them into farm land.

So can not killing the animal, and donating the $54,000 to a sanctuary, instead of poaching an individual in a declining species to get your name in a record book.

I don't disagree with you, Tim, but this wasn't a legal or regulated hunt, and my passions are getting the better of me. Trophy hunting is difficult to accept.

I don't disagree with you, Tim, but this wasn't a legal or regulated hunt, and my passions are getting the better of me. Trophy hunting is difficult to accept.

I think we can all agree that the killing of Cecil was trophy hunting and illegal poaching at its worst. And I can't see the fun of trophy hunting myself - but then climbing high mountains never struck me as fun either.  In fact I can't understand why those hunters don't sneak up as close as possible and take a picture. That would be a lot braver.

However, if there is a surplus of a species and if money from an occasional trophy hunt benefitted the local people and made them more accepting of the wildlife and willing to preserve it, then I find it hard to argue against. But as I said the theory is easy, but in practice...