Image above of Cecil, taken from https://cecilthelion.org/gallery/
Words cannot describe how saddened I am to hear about the brutal death of Cecil the lion – one of Zimbabwe’s most iconic lions.
For those of you who don’t know what happened, Cecil, a 13-year-old lion that lived in Zimbabwe and was being studied by scientists from Oxford University since 1999 was killed by American trophy hunter, Walter James Palmer.
According to the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, the hunt was not legal and Cecil was lured into private property in order for the hunter to kill him.
Now, we need to honor Cecil’s life. The death of this magnificent lion has sparked a movement to bring change to the trophy hunting industry, as well as conservation efforts in Zimbabwe and beyond.
In fact, our fabulous Hills of Africa clients, Pamela Robinson and Mark Robinson of Exclusive Adventures, created a fundraising page in honor of Cecil the lion. Pamela had the privilege of seeing Cecil whilst on safari in Zimbabwe in 2014 and has some incredible footage of Cecil walking in the Hwange plains.
Here is Pamela’s video of Cecil when she visited Zimbabwe in 2014:
We want to help Save the Lions of Hwange and Zimbabwe for future generations. Visit the fundraising page, Save the Lions – In Memory of Cecil, and be a part of the change. Here’s the link to the fundraising page: https://www.gofundme.com/cecilthelion
Save the Lions – In Memory of Cecil is a crowdfunding effort that will donate 100% of any monies received directly to Jimmy Kimmel’s favorite charity WildCru. Once the LION CONSERVATION & WILDLIFE FUND (LCWF) finalizes their non-profit creation, we will move some of the monies received to LCWF.
The killing of Cecil sheds light on some of the greater conservation issues facing Zimbabwe and other protected wildlife reserves of Africa.
The Save the Lions – In Memory of Cecil initiative is focused on implementing better conservation efforts in an effort to reduce and eradicate wildlife killings through poaching and trophy hunting.
Additionally, T-shirts are being produced to honor Cecil’s memory with 100% of the funds received from the sale of the T-shirts being donated to these same organizations. Go here to buy a Shoot Photos, Not Lions tshirt: https://booster.com/inmemoryofcecilthelion
And the way I see it is that Cecil is leaving a legacy for change. It’s ok to be outraged about his killing and express this frustration. But we must take this energy and passion and use it toward the greater good to facilitate change.
We need to all work together to look after our environment, our people, our land, and our animals. It’s important to make sure we promote tourism across the world to raise awareness for wildlife conservation and help bring in money to support local economies and conservation programs through tourism.
I encourage you to help support tourism to Africa and Zimbabwe, my beautiful homeland. Zimbabwe has some of the best game viewing in the world (I know I am biased, but come with me and see for yourself). The people of Zimbabwe have the biggest, brightest smiles and the tourism operators here need our support.
Cecil has died. Yes. I will not forget. I do however want you to know that there are a lot more lions in Hwange National Park and Zimbabwe, which we all want you to see. The elephants are gorgeous too, as are the hippos, zebras, giraffes and other animals.
It’s time to conserve our wildlife. #saveourlionsLCWF
We want you to be a part of change – we are asking for your support to help save the lions of Hwange and Africa. Lion Conservation and Wildlife Fund is being put together by a group of driven Zimbabweans who are passionate about wildlife and want to protect the last lions. So share with everyone and let’s protect our wildlife.
And I must share this beautiful, yet heart-paining poem written about Cecil:
CECIL
(In Memory of Cecil The Lion)
Where once you roamed a gentle soul,
With a fierce face and eyes of coal,
But ever still the beast you were,
Like a loving king in a lions fur.
You gave a smile to a world in awe
And shouted back with a gentle roar,
Then raised your Cubs on the barrow land
Where human sit and lions stand.
But now you’ve gone just time remains
And human hands show bloody stains
So goodnight Cecil and rest in peace,
You remain a king in a Golden Fleece.
~ Peter D Hehir
I can not look at the footage. It will make me cry. Lions in Africa are in trouble. I just wrote about it on my site, SavingWild.com. In 20 years their numbers have gone from 250K to 20K and the main reason – trophy hunting, especially American trophy hunters like the dentist Mr. Palmer who killed the handsome wonderful Cecil. The only hope is that with the world outcry over this there will be more countries to ban trophy hunting. That is the hope and the legacy that I pray Cecil will leave with us.
Yes, I completely agree, Lori. There must be a ban on trophy hunting if we want these beautiful creatures to be around for our children and our children’s children. It’s such a shame what is happening to their numbers and raising awareness is a key in making a change.
Thank you so much for sharing your Go Fund Me page in honor of Cecil with us! He will truly be missed but his legacy will live on in our efforts to raise awareness and conservation funds. Thank you for all you are doing to help spread the word about Cecil and his story. Every effort helps. – Sandy
Between the poachers and the trophy hunters killing off the lions, what will be left of this majestic animal?! Africa was a spiritual experience for us and we feel privileged to have seen the beautiful wildlife. Now I am not so sure the next generation will experience the same privilege!
I know, Jean – it is truly frightening to think that if we don’t do something about the poaching and trophy hunting then our children and children’s children will not be able to see Africa the way it is today. Conservation programs and initiatives are more important today then ever before.
Hi Sandy. As one of millions worldwide that were upset – initially about Cecil – but then as more information emerged about the whole industry (canned hunting, a misguided and misleading defense in support of hunters as conservationists), we all became more enraged about this entire unethical practice; because it threatens a mass extinction of many of the world’s majestic animals in our lifetime – lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, rhinos, etc. through both unsustainable hunting practices and illegal poaching. So, although I never considered myself an activist, I guess I have become one on this issue, and have written several articles and narratives myself, including “Cecil The Lion – An Agent of Change”. The key, of course, is to move 100% toward ecotourism, and as I understand, revenue generated from ecotourism dwarfs revenue generated through trophy hunting, so this is a viable solution. However, so much I read about this comes from outside observers, and not necessarily from those people that originate or live in the African countries. Since you have referenced Zimbabwe as your homeland, I would love to get your opinion or perspective on this; because I would think that for positive change to happen, it will never happen of the local people don’t buy in. Hopefully they have already, but if the world wants change and the African people want change, I would think that we will be successful in this movement.
Hi Glenn. Thank you for your comment on our post. I can only speak for myself, however I am not a hunter and totally against it. I think the Cecil story is the beginning of change; well, I hope so anyway. What we do know is that eco-tourism operators working in Hwange and other Zimbabwe parks support the national park in terms of funding – helping out with road building, conserving the area, checking up on elephants, lions etc. One such operator even gives their guides hand outs so that they can take notes on particular elephants, lions, markings and where the animal was seen. You are right that we need to get local people to buy in, and if we can get tourism operators to “buy” the areas surrounding national parks, this is the first step to changing the hunting laws. – Sandy