Yesterday, it was reported that the tourist was a Spaniard. Whoever did it doesn't matter, though. It is an outrage. Human behavior is pretty despicable a lot of the time. This breaks my heart.

ETA:. Apparently, the dentist is on probation for illegally killing a bear. He has not denied killing Cecil the lion, but says some things have been "misreported." Yeah, bet they have. He faces five years on that previous charge. They doggone well better revoke his probation. I hope they allow him to be extradited to Zimabawe to serve a sentence for poaching there first and then come home to serve his sentence here. A Zimbabwean prison should be fun for him.

i really am not a fan of the human race. Seems we should be better than we are.

ETA 2: not on probation. That was in 2008

I hope every one of his patients hear about him.

Oh, I would imagine they are. The Yelp page for the practice is on fire with comments, as it should be.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/river-bluff-dental-bloomington?start=40

Yelp is deleting the comments, which is a shame. I think it's perfectly relevant to know where your dollars are going when you support a business.

Yep! The Internet is blowing up with comments about this guy. He, of course, is blaming the guide. That animal suffered for 40 hours!

What makes me sick is that the practice is legal.

"About a century ago there were around 200,000 lions roaming across Africa but that figure has dropped to less than 30,000 in recent years."

Dentist who paid to kill a beautiful animal

It's not legal to bait a lion to come off the protected area to be killed. The guides are going to be charged, the DDS will continue to be hated.

He said that didn't know that the lion he killed was the beloved one, like it would have been ok with him if he killed one not so popular.

I know people hunt just for the hunt. I don't understand how anyone can find joy by killing.

It's not legal to bait a lion to come off the protected area to be killed.

I don't think anyone said it was. The whole practice of hunting for sport is sick!

CindyMac, I think you did. you wrote;

",What makes me sick is that the practice is legal."

CindyMac, I think you did. you wrote;

",What makes me sick is that the practice is legal."

No, I said the practice of hunting is legal. No mention of baiting. You're the one who said that.

You really want to be sick? Look at this story. What an F-ing coward. I know there are plenty more so-called hunters out there.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/11767119/Cecil-the-lions-killer-revealed-as-American-dentist.html

I wonder how long the world will stay angry at him. I bet he could relocate and start a new practice somewhere else, although it takes a long time to build a practice. What an incredible jerk.

Pam, that's what this thread is about.

I know. I thought I was adding to it.

This is not a single event. The only reason it made the news is the particular lion was "known". Safari's are COMMON..this is how the rich entertain themselves. It is a very sad situation, but the dentist is not any different than many.

And not limited to Africa. Plenty right here in the good ole USA ... sadly.

He has had to shut down his practice - at least for a while. Social media has become living karma. Some of the Yelp reviews are on the site:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/river-bluff-dental-bloomington?start=40

It reminds me of the anesthesiologist here in Virginia who trash-talked about a patient during his colonoscopy and the patient successfully sued her. The comments about her on various physician review sites were brutal.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/anesthesiologist-trashes-sedated-patient-jury-orders-her-to-pay-500000/2015/06/23/cae05c00-18f3-11e5-ab92-c75ae6ab94b5_story.html

You are right, CindyMac. It goes on here, too. Dick Cheney's quail hunting comes to mind. The quail were raised in pens and released from the pens to be shot.

Yep, he's now receiving death threats. He's been charged in the past (I believe) for killing a bear. He also had a charge of sexual harrassment from a former receptionist, who he settled with - over $100,000. Makes you wonder just what kind of person he really is. So sad, that was a beautiful animal.

Don't make the mistake of Googling images for Dr. Walter Palmer, as I just did. He's SUCH a big, tough, he-man, as several poses of him grinning like an idiot, gloating with obvious pride over the carcasses of once-beautiful, innocent creatures that he so masterfully MURDERED must certainly prove.

I feel a little sick now. I really do.

It makes me incredibly sad to think about animals, any animals or birds or fish, being killed for sport. A life is a life and shouldn't be taken so callously. Every time they bring up this jerk on the news I tear up all over again. I wouldn't even allow my kids to stomp on ants when they were little. Killing mice that get into our home with traps bothers me so much. As Cindy mentioned, the lion population has decreased staggeringly over the years due to poaching and big game hunters, It breaks my heart to hear about these things. It breaks my heart, and makes me so angry, to know these atrocities are still accepted by many people.

I agree with Lynn's. "A life is a life and shouldn't be taken so callously." Whether animal or human, born or unborn. Life is precious.

Here it is. Jimmy Kimmel talks about Cecil.

If you haven't seen what Jimmy Kimmel had to say last night the link is above.

Jimmy Kimmel is spot on. Now I am hearing that as many as 10 lion cubs' lives could be endangered as a result of Cecil's death. Has to do with the loss of the Pride leader and the collapse of the coalition.

His officially released statements and lawyer-authored communications ring pretty hollow considering the probation he served in 2008 was for lying to officials about where an animal was killed.

It's not the first time he's hunted an endangered animal -- this appears to be his particular niche in sport hunting.

Although I think any type of death threats are uncalled for, public scorn and condemnation perhaps are the best preventative measures for this type of activity, along with extradition to Zimbabwe on the pending charges.

Years ago, some good friends of MIL participated in one of these hunts in Africa. They thought it was so fantastic (even the wife participated) and was eager to show pictures when they returned home. MIL was disgusted and had no desire to look at them. I know the couple, they are very generous and charitable people, but I had a very difficult time understanding how something like this could appeal to them and lost respect for them after I heard about it. Sadly, it takes something like this to bring awareness to the fact that it is a big business.

oh gosh, that reminds me of my 10 y/o dd's friend. She is from a very wealthy family. I was picking dd up from a birthday party a couple of years ago. Across the entry way, there is a large glass enclosed room full of animals the father has killed - huge, life size wild animals. It was surreal. He was showing some of the fathers his "den" - disgusting. I can't even remember what animals he had but there were many. I had no desire to check it out, but it was hard to miss.

I am sure he is being dishonest about the fame of the lion. For sure. But, it is amazing how people are outraged about this lion while children are being shot and killed on a regular basis.

The world is filled with such despicable evil that most people can only handle a small amount of pain and outrage at a time. I mourn Cecil but I am not unaware of the depravity on this planet.

I'm glad it's a media darling, it's one cause that might be helped along.

Just heard a comedian say that the doctor should have used that $50,000 to pay for a penis enlargement. Obviously, there's a lot of overcompensating going on in his life.

Wow, I did not know Donald Trumps sons were just as bad as the dentist.

Here is the forbes info on them in the link, a pitiful defense.

"Next, Donald Jr. points out, the leopard they hunted in Zimbabwe was not
endangered, and they didn’t hunt any of the animals in an unethical
way."

A very quick Google pulls up pictures.

Forbes/Trumps Sons

And, the Go Daddy ceo....

We were in Hwange and did not see Cecil but did see other beautiful lions. How anyone would want to kill one is beyond me. One question he needs to answer is why he went ahead and posed with this animal and had its head cut off for a trophy once he saw it was tagged.

anele_gw

" But, it is amazing how people are outraged about this lion while children are being shot and killed on a regular basis."

people can be outraged about more then one thing at a time.

I was touched by Jane Goodall's statement. I wish I could belive that "people will be more prepared to fight for the protection of wild animals...". Sadly, the almighty dollar continues to rule and where there is a buck to be made, some people will make it no matter the true cost.

Jane Goodall

I fail to see any distinction between someone who kills an endangered animal and then sells it (aka poaching), and someone who pays to kill an endangered animal.

Safari's are COMMON..this is how the rich entertain themselves.

I think that is a bit of ... overkill. I know a lot of people who have been on safaris, and I have been on two. I do not know a soul who shot anything other than a Nikon.

I've not seen statistics, but I am pretty certain that the majority of safaris do not involve hunting.

And boy, that teeth whitening biz must be good! I am not sure when Michigan dentists came to symbolize "the rich", in the same breath as the Trumps, lol. I've not ready any of the articles, so maybe I am missing something.

I know hunting is a very charged subject, but I cannot identify with it. I consider it normal to be uncomfortable killing things, and I have to imagine it takes effort to "overcome" the normal discomfort and reluctance one (should) has (have). I have a real bias against anyone who hunts, because I honestly think they have to be savage on some level. Of course, to be fair, why am I not a vegetarian, then?

I also think hunting as a sport does not skew to the well to do at all; in fact somewhat the opposite. Big game hunting takes some dough, yes, but that is a small fraction of the hunting that takes place.

Within the last year, someone posted some photos on this site of a decor project. When you clicked on the photo, it took you to an album. The album had more than decor on it. It included what I thought were grotesque photos of a bleeding deer. There were several posed photos taken with the deer, including several with a young boy (maybe 8?) and an even younger girl, holding it by the antlers iirc. To me, these were so shocking. I thought about emailing the poster and letting her know that she may want these to be private, but OTOH I thought she might "shoot the messenger", so I let it be. (I once emailed a poster, nicely, I thought, to tell them their family vacation photos were visible on their post. The person did not respond and just left the site.)

Maybe if I had been reared with a hunting tradition, I could understand, but I just cannot see this "sport". And the old saw about feeding themselves? Can it really be less than rice and beans? IDK

I really don't understand the 'sport' of hunting- legal or illegal.....

I am not a vegetarian and I feed my family meat and I realize that many animals in the animal kingdom eat meat, but I just can't relate at all to the enjoyment of killing an animal or wanting to display the body or head of the animal.....

I have never known/heard of anyone who had their own pets preserved, except the guy in the book, The Hotel New Hampshire, who stuffed his dog-- I think many people might be horrified by that idea, but I could at least understand the rationale behind that.....

His killing is so upsetting to me that I can't read this thread or another article about it. I've been "hiding" facebook posts too. The straw that broke this camel's back was when I read an article saying his 34 cubs/offspring will most likely all be killed by the new pride's head lion. Makes me sick.

I agree, CRL.

Yeah, I'm glad CRL wrote that because I would have said precisely the same thing. Montana has a huge hunting culture, and for the most part I admire that. I agree that feedlot-raised meat is torture for the animal, unhealthy to eat, and exacts a heavy toll on the environment. There are many things wrong with that system, but it's one we are largely blind to. I swore off conventional meat years ago and will never go back.

Hunting, at least out here, is not so bad for the animal. It has a normal life and hopefully gets killed quickly and with minimal trauma. I know plenty of people that only eat what they hunt and otherwise don't buy meat. That's a perfect solution. Turns out I am a hypocrite because even though I admire that way of life, I could never shoot anything and I also don't love the game meats. But I freely admit my hypocrisy and do the best I can with eating minimal meat, and only from known provenance that does not include grain feeding or a feedlot life.

I am hopeful this tragic event will at least foster some much-needed scrutiny on the poaching situation, and even this thoughtful conversation here is an example of making something good from something awful.

I'm also increasingly confident that this dentist is feeling real pain and shame over this, and that is just as it should be. A win for the Internet masses!

I totally agree that the idea of raising meat for slaughter is very disturbing too! I really try not to think about the slaughter houses, etc!! i couldn't be a livestock farmer either!!!! I have a sibling who is a vegetarian still because the very idea of eating an animal went against her grain when she was 15 or 16... I personally could happily live with eating very little or no meat, but my husb would not, so I cook meat at least a couple of times a week. so, I buy meat/fish for my family and leather for my furniture/clothes/shoes and try not to think about the animal's life before my consumption, to be perfectly honest...

but, there are many hunters- most, if not all, I have known in fact- who hunt for sport, even if they also eat the animal..... I am sure there are hunters out there who hunt because they want to eat meat, but refuse to buy farm raised meat so they hunt for ethical reasons-- but I think they are the exception rather than the rule. I could not hunt, period, even if I spent many hours at the shooting range and bought the finest guns/bows!! I could get into target shooting I think or archery, but I could never find enjoyment in killing an animal and I don't want animals killed for sport (even if killed instantly with one shot and eaten too) displayed as trophies or as décor in my house. others feel differently and that's ok!

Speaking of hunting ... Now Ted Nugent is speaking out in support of Palmer.

Maaaaaaaaan. You KNOW you've reached an all-time low when the likes of Ted Nugent becomes an ally. It would be laughable, really, were it not for the fact that it's so very pathetic.

My sister-in-law send this to me today. It sums up how a lot of us feel, I think. Originally posted by Ricky Gervais, the caption said: "This is how real men shoot animals". I so agree!

According to CNN a poacher has now killed Jericho, Cecil's brother.

YEp, it is all over the news. Jericho has been protecting Cecil's cubs since he was killed. I just do not understand the minds of people who kill for trophies. It is sick.

I do understand hunting for food, and deer here in the US and kangaroos in Australia do become overpopulated and the herds have to be thinned. I like venison, and I had kangaroo in Australia.

Just saw on twitter that maybe it wasn't Jericho that was killed. Story developing.

I have made my peace with leather. There are so many cows killed for food, the hides do also need to be used.

I don't have a problem with hunting for food; it's doing it for sport/trophies that I find depraved.

According to The Humane Society there are more than 1,000 captive hunt locations in the US. It sickens me that they breed animals to stock their "ranches".

captive hunts in the USA