Will the world learn from Cecil’s cruel death?

WHAT is it about some people that they derive pleasure from killing another living creature? The case of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe has raised the issue of morality around hunting.

Cecil was brutally killed last week by an American dentist who paid an estimated $55,000 for the pleasure of shooting this endangered and majestic animal with a crossbow.

Aside from the sheer horror of this act in itself, he didn’t even put the poor animal out of its misery quickly - because Cecil retreated, wounded and was tracked down almost two days later only to be finally killed with a rifle.

The shocking this is, that this incident only came to public attention because Cecil was a lion which was tagged and living in a national park.

He was one of the country’s most prized lions.

The dentist, Walter Palmer thought that the lion he was stalking was out in the wild and therefore felt justified in killing it and has an online shrine to all of his conquests, posing with numerous carcases of precious animals he has shot for sport.

His justification for this callous act was that he believed it was legal and had it been a different lion, then there is every possibility that this would in fact be the case.

I just cannot accept that some people believe it is okay to kill animals for fun, for entertainment.

Many will raise the overall debate about meat eating but the difference here is that cattle, sheep, pigs and other commonly consumed animals are slaughtered to feed the human population and those who do the slaughter aren’t revelling in the enjoyment of it or posting it to their Facebook pages.

Many have remarked that this sort of tourism is commonplace in parts of Africa and that it largely goes unreported because the animals that are killed are not being tracked by any authorities.

There is a thriving industry in providing permits, guides and of course, the innocent creatures that are cruelly slaughtered by heartless humans.

The bottom line is that there really is no difference in moral terms between hunting deer in the mountains of Ireland and shooting a lion in the African safari, but Cecil’s story has gotten into the hearts and minds of people the world over. Let’s hope the end of this sick ‘industry’ is nigh.

Cecil was brutally killed last week by an American dentist who paid an estimated $55,000 for the pleasure of shooting this endangered and majestic animal with a