America rose in protest over the court decision to not prosecute Walter Palmer, the US dentist who is better know as the killer of Cecil the Lion.
Cecil the Lion was a major tourist attraction in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. The killing of this lion caused international protests, although the citizens of Zimbabwe themselves were almost unaffected by the incident.
Sophomore Matthew Isakson said, “The killing of Cecil is devastating, but I find it a bit sad that the only attention we pay to Africa is for this issue and not to acknowledge the starving people and disease that has been killing the Africans for years now.”
According to Zimbabwean officials, it turns out that Palmer had paid $50,000 and that he did have hunting privileges. After the case was reviewed, it turns out he had not broken any hunting laws.
Nevertheless, the tragedy sparked outcry around the world, and Palmer was forced to temporarily close his dental practice.
Isakson said, “I think it’s important to impose better and more specific hunting restrictions to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Palmer is not completely off the hook, though.
Johnny Rodrigues, head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, told the National Public Radio, “The fact is the law was broken. We are going to get our advocates in America to actually see what they can do to bring justice to him.”
Sophomore Stephanie Hong said, “I think this is completely unacceptable, if this kind of awful stuff keeps going on and nobody gets in trouble, it is never going to stop.”