Cecil the lion's death scratches surface of deeper debate - Irish Times
It was a question that bounced around in the background of the international condemnation of Minnesotan dentist Walter Palmer’s assassination of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe earlier this month. Piers Morgan, the notorious big-game slayer of celebrity reputations during his days of tabloid editorship, was the most vocal of an unlikely cast of outraged public figures: everyone from Newt Gingrich to Cara Delevingne were sufficiently moved... Piers, though, took it further, declaring that he would “love to go hunting for killer dentist Walter Palmer so I can stuff him on my office wall”. It has been admitted that the guides who assisted Dr Walter on his quest had to lure the creature out of the sanctuary of the national park by tying meat to the back of a truck. Once the lion was off rez, Dr Walter had his opportunity to test himself against nature in his chosen way – which was shoot the animal to death with a bow and arrow, pose for photographs and finally skin and behead his kill, presumably for... Dr Walter has provoked more anger in the space of 24 hours than the most skilful PETA campaign could hope to do in a year. Dr Walter probably has to be believed when he claims that he didn’t realise he was killing a lion which was effectively under the protection of the Zimbabwean government and had acquired a degree of fame. Source: www.irishtimes.com
