To protect other lions like Cecil, please urge the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to issue a final rule listing lions as
"threatened" and banning the importation of lion heads, tails, and
skins in order to stop all trophy imports into the United States.
Mumbai 9th Aug 2015(Sana
Sayed): Cecil the lion, the patriarch and defender of a family of dozens of
cubs, was recently killed by a Minnesota dentist who wanted a lion's head on
his wall. The dentist, Walter Palmer, along with his hunting party, tied a dead
animal to a vehicle to lure Cecil out of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. He
blinded Cecil with a spotlight and then shot him with a high-powered crossbow.
Cecil hid in the bush, no doubt suffering greatly from a steel arrow in his
body. When Cecil was found 40 hours later the mighty white hunter shot him and
had him beheaded and skinned.
Hunting is a
coward's pastime. To get a thrill at the cost of a life, this overblown,
over-privileged little man gunned down a beloved lion with a high-powered
weapon, leaving a family of cubs vulnerable to attack. All wild animals are
beloved by their own mates and offspring, but to hunters who lack empathy,
understanding, and respect for living creatures they are merely targets to
kill, decapitate, and hang up on a wall as a trophy. The photograph of this
dentist smiling over the corpse of another animal, who, like Cecil, wanted only
to be left in peace, will disgust every caring soul in the world.
The United
States must stop allowing the importation of lion heads, tails, and skins into
the United States.