I know this isn’t book related, but I’d like to discuss a serious point today. As most people know, Cecil, a 13-year-old male Southwest African Lion of the Hwange National Park, Matabaleland North, Zimbabwe, who was being studied and tracked by Oxford University was shot and killed by an American recreational big-game hunter, Walter Palmer. Or, more specifically, Walter Palmer lured Cecil off the reserve, wounded him with compound bow, tracked him for 40 hours, and shot him dead with a rifle. Palmer then proceeded to skin and decapitate Cecil, leaving the rest of his carcass for researchers to find.

Palmer reportedly paid $50,000 in order to hunt and kill the lion, and after successfully doing so, returned to the US. He has not been seen since, and  is presumably in hiding following the internet outrage left in his brutal murder of Cecil.

I absolutely loathe Walter Palmer. I hate that he paid to brutally massacre a beautiful animal. I despise the fact that he snatched Cecil’s dignity and is probably using his head as some kind of ornament to crow over and use to congratulate himself on his perceived strength and power. I hate that gave no thought to Cecil’s cubs who could be killed by the next Alpha male of the pride. I hate that someone like Walter Palmer exists, someone so sadistic that they need to kill such a beautiful animal to feel good about themselves and get a kick. I abhor him, I want him expedited from the US, I want him punished, I want him imprisoned, anything.

But whilst I and so many others are caught up in this witch-hunt for Walter Palmer, the fact remains- we all want justice for Cecil. We all want to believe that giving Walter Palmer what he so deserves will make this better. It won’t. The fact is, lions are endangered, so endangered that experts believe they could be extinct by 2050. There are fewer than 30,000 lions left on the African continent today. Palmer is the one we’re calling a murderer, but we as humans have a responsibility to try protect these wonderful creatures. We can’t bring Cecil back, but we can prevent further tragedies from occurring in the future.

Some ways you can help:

  • Donate to the Oxford Wildlife Conservation Research Unit- the organisation that was studying Cecil- here.
  • Sign a petition asking for full accountability and punishment for those involved in Cecil’s death here.
  • Donate to LionAid- a UK-based charity committed to saving endangered African Lions- here.
  • Don’t let Cecil be forgotten- keep calling for action on blogs, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, etc. Make sure he didn’t die for nothing.

I urge you: take action today. Together, we can make sure there won’t be anymore tragedies like this one. Let’s save the lions.