I’m sure almost everyone has now heard one thing or another about the killing of Cecil the Lion by an American dentist in Zimbabwe.

The murder of this beloved lion went viral, and it was one of the most shared articles on Facebook all last week. The media has created such an outrage over this topic that the hunter Dr. Walter Palmer has been forced into hiding.

Dr. Palmer paid over 50,000 dollars to hunt this large cat, but what he didn’t know is that Cecil was not just an ordinary lion. The lion was a popular attraction at the Hwange National Park In Zimbabwe. According to the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force it was illegal to kill Cecil. Therefore, not only did this man take out one of the very few lions left on our planet but he did so illegally.

Even though this is a sad death and a horrible article to read across the Internet, many hope that this murder will draw more attention to the issues involved with big-game hunting endangered species such as lions, elephants and rhinos.

Centuries ago there were around 200,000 lions and today there is about 30,000. The decline in these endangered species is no joke and hunting them is nothing but a sick game. I’m sure there are those out there who strongly disagree with my opinion, however, I just don’t see the fun in killing these beautiful creatures for pure enjoyment.