Killing of Cecil the lion

Cecil

Cecil at Hwange National Park in 2010
Species	Lion
Sex	Male
Born	c. 2002
Died	1 July 2015(2015-07-01) (aged 13) Hwange District, Zimbabwe
Residence	Hwange National Park
Named after	Cecil Rhodes

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, then tracked, and reportedly killed with a rifle approximately 40 hours later on 1 July 2015. Palmer says that Cecil was killed with a bow and arrow in much less than 40 hours after the lion was first wounded. Cecil 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 the country as a tourist but not as a hunter.

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

Cecil—named after Cecil Rhodes—and another lion believed to be Cecil's brother were noticed in Hwange National Park in 2008. During 2009, the two lions encountered an established pride, which resulted in a fight in which Cecil's brother was killed and both Cecil and the leader of the pride were seriously wounded; the leader was subsequently killed by park rangers because of the wounds he had received in the fight with Cecil. Cecil retreated to another part of the park where he eventually established his own pride which had as many as 22 members. During 2013, Cecil was forced out from the area by two young male lions into the eastern border of the park. There, he created a coalition with another male lion named Jericho to establish two prides which consisted of Cecil, Jericho, half a dozen females and up to a dozen cubs sired by Cecil or Jericho.