R.I.P Cecil

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RIP Cecil: 10 Photos of One of the Most Beautiful Lions who Ever Lived

Published by DL Cade

Cecil and Cubs

Cecil With His Cubs by Ed Hetherington 

On the 1st of July, a beautiful 13 year old male lion was shot and killed in Zimbabwe. His name was Cecil.

This is not a post about the man who shot him… twice, or the guides who allegedly lured the beautiful creature out of the safety of Hwange National Park so he could be killed and then destroyed his GPS collar after skinning and beheading him.

Nor is this a post about the 40 hours Cecil survived after being shot with an arrow, fleeing his pursuers before they caught and finished him off with a rifle. You can read all about that a million places online and watch as your blood boils or try to keep the tears from welling up in your eyes.

This is a photographic tribute to one of the most beautiful animals in the world. This is anger, sadness, and respect… in pictures. Rest in Peace Cecil.

https://iso.500px.com/rip-cecil-10-photos-of-one-of-the-most-beautiful-lions-who-ever-lived/

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Photo: Courtesy Ed Hetherington 

Posted in: African Lions, Biodiversity, Animal Rights, Animal Cruelty

Tags: Cecil the Lion, tragic murder, ban trophy hunting, poachers, Zimbabwe, save our wildlife, Hwange National Park

Published in: on July 31, 2015 at 9:25 pm  Comments (19)  
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19 CommentsLeave a comment

  1. On July 31, 2015 at 9:33 pm idalupine said:

    Thanks for that – what a magnificently beautiful lion. How anyone could look at him and want to kill him is beyond me. Greedy, covetous, evil destroyer.

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  2. On July 31, 2015 at 9:40 pm Wolf is my Soul said:

    Reblogged this on Wolf Is My Soul and commented:
    Human greed at its very worst!

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  3. On July 31, 2015 at 10:33 pm sabienne6 said:

    Beautiful tribute, Nabeki. Rest in peace, Cecil.

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  4. On August 1, 2015 at 2:20 am Pat said:

    how to stop these FAT, FAT, WHITE arrogant jerks – I hope someone gets this guy w/ a crossbow & he sits for 40hours – they all disgust me beyond belief WHAT on earth do they get out of killing these beautiful animals and they are ALWAYS fat, white AND grinning while leaning their “weapon” against the dead body – I can’t stand it!

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  5. On August 1, 2015 at 4:19 am Anne said:

    My words cannot make it past my tears. We will always love you Cecil.

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  6. On August 1, 2015 at 4:50 am markgil said:

    here are 2 very short but truthful artciles on the subject of Cecil which i think should be read & shared by everyone:
    http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/adventures-in-moral-schizophrenia-cecil-the-lion/#.Vbyjc_ngypo

    http://www.joyfulvegan.com/blog/cecils-name-didnt-save-him-but-it-can-save-us-and-others

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  7. On August 1, 2015 at 5:26 am Linda Brunner said:

    Still tearing up about this. Can’t get past the sadness.

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  8. On August 1, 2015 at 7:11 am idalupine said:

    What’s amazing to me is that a lot of hunting organizations have kicked him out for not conforming to fair chase guidelines. Safari Club International listed them and two that immediately jumped out are baiting and jacklighting (spotlighting) at night. So for him to lie to the public about his responsible hunting is a joke, but what can you expect I guess.

    Once legislation is passed to prevent importation of lion body parts and trophies I think we will see this type of barbarism decline or stop entirely. And it has been an awakening for the general public.

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  9. On August 1, 2015 at 9:13 am ahimsaforever said:

    Sad beyond words. But if anything can come out of Cecil’s horrific death it may be that he becomes a symbol for all the nameless victims of trophy hunting and all hunting. Cecil’s death has mobilized millions of people to speak out, and I hope that the next news cycle will not allow Cecil’s memory to fade. He can be the symbol for a better future if we keep working.

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  10. On August 1, 2015 at 11:39 am Mak said:

    As the media mentioned, male lions protect females from hyaenas, and others who dispute with lions and cubs, whether over food, or in some cases, predation. The cubs are killed by new males when they take over. Breakdown of the social group can occur, leading to further loss of lions (about 2/3 of lions have been lost since the last ccouple decades of the 20th c. No records were kept previous to that time, although due to the human population explosion in Africa – there is an the range of 15x the number of humans there as a century ago)
    This infanticide occurs in many species, including gorillas and other relatives – matter of fact it is related to the propensity of human step-parents to seriously abuse children, so it is not somethang that can be moralized about.
    I believe there are a couple of videos showing the deep affiliation/love of a large adult male lion for the person who raised it – in those you can see an argument against lethal dealing with lions – they are not just killers, but other animals like you and me.

    While loss is “sad”, meaning promoting depression, I would rather that you go ahead and feel your outrage, and feel your repugnance toward pleasure killing by humans – their weapons make them unassailable, and either the weapons must be permanently stripped away, or the “sport” must be banished from the face of earth. There is no “contest”, that is a lie and farce – there is only some sociopathic pleasure having nought to do with the respect and beauty with which each should walk the earth.

    Now, lions do eat humans, and perhaps this is the mystique about killing one. Early in the mighty whit hunter era, up to 800 were killed at once. So it’s possible that the craving to kill once you have a gun is natural. Only the gun is not.

    In better news,
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cecil-the-lions-killer-may-have-trouble-avoiding-extradition-experts-say/2015/07/31/6100c7cc-37be-11e5-9739-170df8af8eb9_story.html?tid=pm_national_pop_b
    We see that your dentist might actually have to face the music (I believe he is choosing to get tried in the USA. I think Zimbabwe would ignore the “McKittrick” style defense he has planned, and of course, in the US the courts eat that up.)
    In the article a map shows the original extent of lion habitat before the berserk chimps with guns got at this magnificent inhabitant of that part of earth.

    It is pwetty much time to end the boone & cwockett “BWAM, you’w dead” Elmer Fudd thing, eh, doc?

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  11. On August 1, 2015 at 11:55 am Mak said:

    “Faiw chase” as mentioned by Ida Lupine is a fiction to which she may perhaps feel it mandatory for her to subscribe, as she is involved in an org which must possibly compromise with Elmers of the worwd.

    I believe that however much we may officially have to compromise, or rather, feel we have to, that personal integrity requires that we act in accordance with our actual feelings while on this earth.

    If one actually believes that sport is the goal of killing, then in the colosseum of one’s perceptions “fair” and “chase” perhaps has some kind of meaning. Once a large person of another race stabbed me in the back. When a young Mexican friend slapped an iron bar into my hand, I was coldly ready to use it. Fortunately for the stabber, I lost enough blood to fail to catch up with him – but I do not attack every person of that race just because I might have died on evening.
    Neither was the prospect of catching either him, nor any future person of that race adrenalin-inducing to me. As a matter of fact, I have found my experiences with many who looked a lot like the stabber to cause me to admire their beauty and skills, and that enriches my life, even though I never “evened the score.”

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    • On August 1, 2015 at 1:04 pm idalupine said:

      What? I simply wanted to point out that Palmer’s behavior is not being supported even by Safari Club, that is all. That even other hunters don’t support or approve of his behavior. They have distanced themselves from him because they know it makes them look bad too. I thought that was significant. I make no apologies for wanting to make him accountable for his behavior, whether or not he is ‘taken’ to Zimbabwe or not.

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    • On August 2, 2015 at 6:58 am Jerry said:

      I do not support what Palmer did, nor do I support unethical hunting of any kind, but what does revenge have to do with this? Glad you lived to tell your story.

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  12. On August 1, 2015 at 11:45 pm sharonstjoan said:

    Reblogged this on Art, animals, and the earth.

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  13. On August 2, 2015 at 12:00 am Peter Souza said:

    SCI is only distancing themselves because Palmer got CAUGHT, SCI Does canned hunting and baiting and a lot more all the time! SCI made NO STAND WHATSOEVER when Our Own Beloved 06 was lured out of our Yellowstone and murdered! Lets use this opportunity to get America aware of our Wolves!! Cecil is NOT resting in peace, He is ripping mad to have his life ended so cruelly!

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    • On August 2, 2015 at 5:02 am idalupine said:

      I didn’t realize that. Terrible.

      I think the public has had enough of this.

      Here’s a tribute to Cecil from NYC, lighting up the Empire State Building, it’s gorgeous!

      http://news.yahoo.com/cecil-lion-lights-yorks-empire-state-building-093226381.html

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      • On August 5, 2015 at 12:08 am Nabeki said:

        Wow, thanks for sharing Ida, that is truly wonderful.

        For the wolves, For Cecil,
        Nabeki

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    • On August 2, 2015 at 12:49 pm Nabeki said:

      Pete…RIP Cecil is my tribute to him. What can I say, hope you’re still suffering? But I do agree with you about the canned hunts. Apparently there are hundreds of lion farms in South Africa, where they raise lions for canned hunts. Actually there are canned hunts in America as well and around the world. As for SCI they could care less about what happened to Cecil, it’s just CYA for them. It probably freaked them out to see the world react the way it did to Cecil’s death. I guess they don’t feel like “Masters of the Universe” anymore. As terrible as Cecil’s death was it looks like it wasn’t in vain. It woke up the world, now we need to harness it. All wolves are Cecil, all wildlife is Cecil.

      For the wolves, For Cecil,
      Nabeki

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  14. On August 5, 2015 at 6:21 am thomastryon said:

    Cecil’s death was tragic as is the death of any sentient being,whether humans have bestowed them with a name or not. Many sentient creatures are being cruelly murdered globally, the difference is they are innominate- never even having the value to be named and are murdered in loneliness and pain. Let us not forget them.Compassion is not always easy but it is infinitely rewarding.
    http://www.animalsaustralia.org/features/cecil-the-lion-killed-in-zimbabwe.php?ua_s=e-mail

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