It’s not acceptable to turn Americans over to third world nations. Let’s keep the dentist here and shun him. His behavior is unacceptable. I expect he has lost most of his patients and will now have to live life like the rest of us earthlings who can’t afford $50,000 big game trophy trips.
As for the poaching problem, why not slap million dollar fines on those trophies that are smuggled in. Anyone caught with an African animal body part should be slapped with a fine and the trophy should be confiscated.
This dude wanted to go after elephants next. Shudder!!! Double shutter!
He needs to go shoot tin cans for a while like the rest of us. The only shooting that should be taking place on game reserves is with a camera. At some point, there will be no wild animals left in Africa.
There are laws on the books in which Americans can be prosecuted in U.S. Courts for violating conservation laws of other countries.
incidentally many of those Africans safaris are gouging stupid Americans for a lot of money.
Cecil suffered a particularly cruel death. He was shot with a bolt from a cross-bow, reportedly (I haven’t seen confirmation of this, but I haven’t heard it denied) after having been lured off a Preserve by Palmer’s hunting party. Reports are that the lion wandered, wounded for forty hours before finally being dispatched (I’ve heard different stories here – either by another crossbow shot or by gunshot – it hardly matters). But, as Jo Ann Armeo said in the Post, do these animals have to have names before we are utterly disgusted and outraged by this kind of human behavior.
If they still have the carcass, I wouldn’t mind some creative plea deal whereby Palmer agrees to devote the rest of his life to animal dentistry (live animals, please) but is forced to consume lion burgers until all of Cecil has been eaten.
If people need to hunt for food, I don’t begrudge them that.
OMG!!! Lion burgers. Poor Cecil.
It would be appalling to turn this guy over to some third-world dictator who has tortured, starved and killed thousands, someone who would use him as a propaganda tool before he eventually tortures and kills him. I think Cecil’s death was a tragedy, but this is not a crime that warrants a death sentence.
There should be solid laws on the books that deal with actions Americans take overseas that create diplomatic nightmares like this for our government. His punishment here should be severe.
Cecil the lion’s bother, Jericho, killed in illegal hunt in Zimbabwe
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/01/world/cecil-the-lion-brother-jericho-illegally-killed/index.htmlCecil the lion’s brother, Jericho, killed illegally – CNN.com
Did he do what he was supposed to do?
He hired local guides – they are the ones who are responsible in my eyes. IF they told him he was is his right to take down Cecil – they are the ones who know if they are poaching are in the right. They are the ones to hold responsible. Now, if he knew he was in the wrong, that is another story.
I can’t believe the racism here by people saying we can’t let Zimbabwe try this poacher. I mean how dare those uppity Africans think they can dare to judge a white American! All he was doing was exploiting Africa’s resources, what’s the harm in that?
If you commit a crime in a foreign country, you are subject to the laws of that country. We should extradite him to Zimbabwe and let them handle the situation according to their laws. I bet there won’t be many Americans or Europeans looking to exploit Africa’s wildlife after that!
I do agree that some countries in Africa should reform their criminal justice systems. But it is not our place as Westerners to impose our values on Africa. Forcing other countries to adhere to our ideas of “due process” and “equal protection” is just another form of cultural imperialism.
Many African countries are corrupt by our standards. I wouldn’t send Charles Manson to Zimbabwe.
Furby, your new self is fairly obnoxious. How about I do an intervention and help bring you back to reality?
The zebras, gazelles, buffalo, and wildebeests in Zimbabwe are throwing a big celebration party on the old turf of Cecil and Jericho.
Nature really is cruel. Dr. Lion Killer threw off the natural order of things but you bring up a good point, Wolve.
Who will thin the herds now Cecil is gone?
Americans who aren’t hunters shudder at herd thinning but…its part of nature. Look at our love/hate affair with deer. Creatures of beauty until they get in your garden or go through your windshield and mess up your face on the road.
I’m sorry that you feel I am being obnoxious. I am not trying to be combative, but you have to admit that it is difficult to look at this situation (rich white hunter and poor black country) without considering the racial and class issues.
And it’s not just me, for sure. Here people are taking issue with the Empire State Building highlighting the threats to endangered animals while ignoring #BlackLivesMatter
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/08/03/cecil-the-lion-empire-state-building-endangered-animals_n_7924416.html?1438604263
We need to come up with a “Less Crunchy” method of conducting “Big Game Tropphy Hunting”. People’s sensibilities need to be protected.
@Steve Thomas
And for the record, I am opposed to this type of hunting. If there is an over-abundance of Lions on a preserve (which is an artificial ecosystem) or prey animals such as antelope, zebra, etc. Ok…let permits be issued and the taking of these beasts regulated. Personally, if you aren’t trying to feed someone, eliminate a threat to your livelihood or your person, these types of hunts are just for “kicks and thrills”. Where I given an opportunity to “shoot a Rhino or a Lion”, I’d ask for a camera. Now an antelope…it’s what’s for dinner.
@Moon-howler
It will only be a brief and partial respite. The young studs arriving in the former territories of Cecil and Jericho and taking over the prides will first kill all the cubs sired by the dead patriarchs and then start the reproductive cycle all over again. One DNA generation out of the game. Of course, the prides will continue to kill for lunch and dinner but there will be a slightly smaller number of predators at some future point. Natural cycle but with some human intervention this time. But rough parity should come again in time.
That bothers me a lot on so many levels, mainly because the guy is basically a poacher.
I hate big game hunting. This little man said, according to the guide, that he wanted to go elephant hunting the next day. Now that is just immoral. Why on earth kill an elephant? (or a lion) You aren’t going to eat it. It’s all for show.
These guys are not exactly the neighbors you would choose if you had a choice. I remember one of them who lived near my former neighborhood a long time ago. Unfriendly chap. Became a maneater. Harrassed the heck out of the poor farmers and herders in the bush villages. He had to be taken down. My houseboy was one of the beaters. “Simba” surprised the beaters by coming out of the bush after them. The beaters ran. They piled into the back of a moving pickup truck. But “Simba” was faster. He got to the truck and was about to leap into the truck bed with the beaters when he was felled by a single shot from an expat hunter. I have photos of the corpse around here somewhere.
First off, what is a “beater?” In my world, it’s an old car. A “wife beater” is a stringer tee shirt.
Some animals do have to be taken down. I have no problem in the United States if a wolf comes on YOUR property and eats YOUR livestock, that he/she be killed. However, if that livestock is on public lands or open range, too bad. You can’t kill the wolf.
I just see that as a moral issue.
Beaters — The guys who shout loudly and “beat” the brush and ground with sticks in an effort to scare the quarry and drive it toward where the hunters are lying in wait. Old “Simba” from long ago didn’t play by the rules.
Ah, ok. Were they beating for lions or did they beat for whatever a person wanted?
You are up on the news. I simply don’t know what to say about the shootings in Baltimore. I expect all prevention has been thrown out the window.
As for the cop, there will be more and more of that, I am sorry to say. It will be difficult to find good cops. Funny how its perfectly OK to kill cops but not one thug or malcontent. 🙄
I have a bad attitude on this subject. It got a lot worse after netroots.
On a parallel note, I heard how badly some localities need certified math teachers. I am laughing. Today math, tomorrow science, next week history….Who on earth would want to go into teaching nowadays. They have to fight like thieves for every raise and step increase, get evaluated on factors beyond their ability to control, and put up with all sorts of crap from incompetent administrators and idiot parents who think they know all the answers and who want to blame everyone else for the behavior of their really horrible kids.
And I heard that at least eleven human beings were shot in some place called Baltimore last weekend. Don’t know yet how many actually bit the dust. (Been fighting a big, nasty computer glitch all week.) But now they tell me another cop was gunned down somewhere while making a traffic stop.
Cecil who?
How would you like to teach math in that school in Canton, Georgia, where nearly half the students can’t speak English?
Better math than language arts. Math is pretty universal. Numbers are numbers. (up to a point).
Actually, been there, done that. Didn’t have to go to Canton, Georgia. Maybe not 50% but a good 35-40%.
Why are there so many foreign students in Canton? Are their parents there for stoop work?
Can’t leave this one alone. I wouldn’t like to teach anywhere in today’s political climate. Teachers are whipping boys for things way beyond their control. 40% of an evaluation is based on SOL scores from what I understand. Throw in your question and you see the impossibility of the situation.