Both social media and the progressive mainstream media have been in an uproar over the past few days about the death of “Cecil,” a 13-year-old lion in Zimbabwe.
Cecil was killed in an organized licensed hunt by a big game hunter, Minnesota dentist Dr. Walter Palmer, who has now gone into hiding after receiving numerous death threats from outraged animal rights activists.
However, it would appear that the outrage surrounding the death of Cecil is what is commonly known as a “First World Problem,” as residents of Zimbabwe were mostly unaware of, and really don’t care about, the death of just another lion.
“What lion?” was the response of acting Information Minister Prisca Mupfumira, after being asked about the death of Cecil.
Though the government had yet to give an official response to the lion hunt, local authorities opened an investigation into whether the professional guides who led the hunt abided by the rules and regulations in place for such things.
According to Yahoo News, that hasn’t stopped angry animal rights and anti-hunting activists from ruining the life of Dr. Palmer, with some calling for his arrest, extradition and even death for hunting the lion with a bow and arrow and finishing it off with a gun.
But most people in Zimbabwe don’t care about the dead lion, as they have much greater problems to deal with, such as an 80 percent unemployment rate, insane monetary inflation and a hugely corrupt government.
“Are you saying that all this noise is about a dead lion? Lions are killed all the time in this country,” said Tryphina Kaseke, a used-clothes hawker on the streets of Harare. “What is so special about this one?”
The truth is, most locals in Zimbabwe actually look forward to the big game hunts that Westerners engage in, as the high price tag for the hunts means money pumped into the local economy, not to mention the meat from such hunts is required by law to be given to local tribes and villages.
“Why are the Americans more concerned than us?” said Joseph Mabuwa, a 33-year-old father of two. “We never hear them speak out when villagers are killed by lions and elephants in Hwange.”
Lions and other large animals are typically viewed as dangerous by the local population, and if these animals are not hunted, their populations will explode and bring about all sorts of other issues, like rampant disease and increased attacks on people.
If only as much outrage over a dead and dismembered lion were directed at those who kill and dismember hundreds of thousands of babies per year, our society might have a moral leg to stand on.
Please share this on Facebook and Twitter to show that if the people of Zimbabwe don’t care about the death of Cecil the lion, there is no reason any of us should care either.
Thursday, July 30th, 2015