Just recently, during this last summer, an American dentist named Dr. Walter Palmer paid $1 million to fly to Zimbabwe and hunt down a lion for his own sick entertainment. The lion that he killed turned out to be Cecil, a world-famous lion that everybody loved and cherished. Late one night, Palmer crossed the line that he was not permitted to cross for hunting and had blood and meat in the back of his truck. That’s how Cecil was lured from his home by Palmer.

Once Cecil was lured away from his home, Palmer shot Cecil through the neck with an arrow and let him bleed to death throughout the rest of the night. Palmer was then able to track the lion and shoot him dead. Cecil was a great lion and everybody loved him. The “Big Game Hunt” mainly started with Teddy Roosevelt. He was the 26th president of the United States, from September 14, 1901 until March 4, 1909.

He was an American statesman, author, explorer, soldier, naturalist, and reformer and he died on January 6, 1919. It was in 1909 that he set out to Africa to start his big game hunt to collect animals for an institution (Smithsonian).  He would hunt animals such as jaguars, rhinoceros, elephants, and other wild animals. His decision to hunt was based on his desire to leave the political stage to his successor and on his own natural need for action. In modern times, those who like to hunt down wild animals consider themselves sportsmen in the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt.

Cecil’s death has angered many people. There are comments and tweets on facebook and twitter insulting him for what he has done to Cecil. 1.2 million people has signed a petition that basically calls Zimbabwe’s government to stop giving out permission for hunting endangered animals, airlines are trying to banning transport of hunting trophies.