Cecil the lion

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/30/us/walter-palmer-whereabouts/

The news of the killing of Cecil the lion made headlines across the globe, generating incredible backlash directed at one man: Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minneapolis.

Palmer hunts big game for sport in his free time. He enjoys the game of killing wild animals. This type of hunting, referred to as trophy hunting, is not illegal when done in certain areas with the right permits. While I'm certainly not some big animal rights activist, I simply cannot wrap my head around how anyone could take the lives of animals when they are not presenting a danger to human beings, or when they are not going to be used for some practical purpose, such as for food.

A horrifying detail (side note: one that every news article makes sure to mention) is that Cecil suffered for 40 hours before being killed. Putting aside the fact that Cecil was well known and part of a long, ongoing study, there is just no excuse for harming or killing any lion.

Palmer claims that he didn't know Cecil was a local favorite and part of a study, and he believed that the appropriate hunting permits had been acquired. However, this is not the first time Palmer was involved with the illegal killing of a wild animal. In 2008 he was charged with illegally hunting a black bear in Wisconsin, for which he paid a $3,000 fine and spent a year on probation. Knowing Palmer's history with illegal hunting, wouldn't you think he'd do better research this time? If I were him, (which, thank God, I'm not!) I certainly would have made sure that everything I was about to do was legal. He also reportedly put down $50,000 to hunt a lion, just another reason why he should have checked out the entire situation beforehand. Either the man is incredibly stupid, or he naively thought that maybe this time, all the way in Africa, he could get away with it.

But of course, Palmer has not gotten away with. With a name to throw blame on, angry people have gathered outside his dental office, making it impossible for Palmer to carry on with business as usual. In fact, no one is even sure of Palmer's whereabouts at the moment. Wherever he is, he definitely should take some time to figure out how to get his life back together after managing to become one of society's most hated men. Maybe next time he'll think before picking up that crossbow. That is, if he's not in jail. Stay tuned, folks.