Today's Article - Cecil the Lion

This article is for quizzes on Tuesday December 29th...

Cecil (c. 2002 – 1 July 2015) was a male Southwest African lion (Panthera leo bleyenberghi) that lived primarily in the Hwange National Park in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe. The lion was a major attraction at the park and was being studied and tracked by the University of Oxford as part of a larger study.

Cecil was wounded with an arrow by Walter Palmer, an American recreational big-game hunter, was then tracked, and on 1 July 2015, approximately 40 hours later, killed with a rifle. He was 13 years old when killed. Two men in Zimbabwe are being prosecuted in relation to the hunt. Palmer had a permit and was not charged with any crime. Authorities in Zimbabwe have said he is free to visit Zimbabwe as a tourist but not as a hunter.

The killing drew international media attention and sparked outrage among animal conservationists, politicians and celebrities, as well as a strong negative response against Palmer. Five months after the killing of Cecil, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added two species of lions, in India and western and central Africa, to the endangered species list, which includes the species of Cecil, making it more difficult for US citizens to kill these lions. According to Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Societ, Cecil had "changed the atmospherics on the issue of trophy hunting around the world," adding "I think it gave less wiggle room to regulators."