Cecil the Lion: Seven Years on

Cecil, 13, was shot with a crossbow and severely injured. He was finally killed hours later. The outrage erupted across the globe, with worldwide news coverage and a storm of social media posts expressing how deeply people felt about Cecil’s death.

Steve McIvor, our CEO, stated that the shooting was a disturbing act. Cecil was shot with a bow & arrow, found alive, and shot with a gun hours later. It must stop being an ‘entertainment’ business to raise and kill lions. This cruel industry should be controlled. Animals belong in nature and are not allowed to be raised or killed for entertainment.

A lion’s pride is hurt by trophy hunting

Each wild animal has a role in the dynamics and interactions of their ecosystem and population. This is especially true for lion pride.

How much does trophy hunting a Lion cost

Trophy hunting can disrupt the social bonds that are important to pride. Taking one member away causes stress.

The pride is vulnerable to attack from other males if the dominant male is killed.

Hunting can increase the killing of cubs in the pride. This could be because the cubs are the offspring of the dominant male who has died.

If females are attacked, and if they have children, they will likely starve or be eaten by predators.

Cecil was a tourist to Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park. Researchers at Oxford University were studying Cecil at the time of his shooting. The impact of trophy hunting goes beyond the animal being killed. Cecil led two feelings of pride that contained many lionesses and cubs. All of them would have been affected by Cecil’s death.

It is still a top priority to tackle trophy hunting

Although the Cecil story is tragic, it’s not an isolated incident. Cecil’s six-year-old son Xanda was killed by a trophy hunter two years later. This happened outside the same national parks where his father had died.

A Humane Society International survey (2021) found that the African lion was the most commonly exported captive-source species from South Africa. It accounted for 58% of all the exported captive-source trophy trophies. In 2014-18, 3,924 African lion trophies from captive sources were exported, which is 785 per annum on average.

Where does Africa’s trophy-hunting cash go

Seven years after Cecil’s death, it is clear that trophy hunting remains a lucrative global industry. This is despite the smokescreen of benefiting local economies and communities. South Africa, for instance, is a country where the profits from trophy hunting make up less than 2% of its economy, although 21 million hectares of land are being used for this purpose.

Most economic profits from an animal’s death don’t go back to the communities that live with it. Hunting produces much lower earnings than land used in agriculture or livestock breeding.

Hunting Lions is not ethical-or sustainable-conservation

It is unacceptable to hunt for trophy meat to preserve and sustain sustainable development.

Other non-lethal economic options, including wildlife-friendly tourists, should be considered because the wild animal’s life is more valuable than any trophy.

Wild animals are treated as commodities for trophy hunting and not as sentient beings to be respected. It is inhumane and outdated. Lions are not trophies. They are not medicine. They are not entertainers. They are wild animals that have wildlife right.