Cecil the Lion

[AnnaFloridaLover]

I'd imagine he has spoken to an attorney who is now giving him direction to not speak. It's not the popular thing to do, but he really has nothing to gain by speaking to authorities until he is ordered to. His falling off the grid I am positive is because of legal advice.

I agree and he would be foolish to do anything else at this point but follow legal advice.

 

[gwynne]

PAWS UP..DON'T SHOOT! Lions Lives Matter!


I'm waiting for the President to make a statement: "IF I had a lion, I would want it to be just like Cecil"

quoted from http://www.businessinsider.com/zimb...so-many-bigger-problems-in-the-country-2015-7
Outside Zimbabwe's environmental and activist circles, however, the reaction been muted.

"It's so cruel, but I don't understand the whole fuss, there are so many pressing issues in Zimbabwe — we have water shortages, no electricity, and no jobs — yet people are making noise about a lion?" said Eunice Vhunise, a Harare resident. "I saw Cecil once when I visited the game park. I will probably miss him. But honestly the attention is just too much."

This is a thread about Cecil the Lion.
I don't see the relevance of obvious political swipes. They just look like a hijack....

 

[Luv2Run]

As far as I'm aware he hasn't been charged with anything and yet you are demanding him to face charges. So far he has been accused which is very different than charged.

If he had reported it properly upon discovery, then he most likely would have faced some sort of charges when the incident occurred. Instead, he chose to try to hide it and ran away back to the States, which makes it that much worse.

 

[gwynne]

I'd imagine he has spoken to an attorney who is now giving him direction to not speak. It's not the popular thing to do, but he really has nothing to gain by speaking to authorities until he is ordered to. His falling off the grid I am positive is because of legal advice.

I agree, nothing to gain by speaking.
I would think between time with legal advisers, and getting his affairs in order in case of extradition he's kinda busy these days.
He will be paying for his last vacay for (I would guess) years to come.

 

[anniemae]

how did they get caught? I just saw a news report that said he shot the lion with his bow, but only wounded him. It was too late to track him, so they went to bed. In the morning they started tracking the lion and found him then killed him. They then found the tracking device. The guide said that both he and Palmer were very upset and panicked when they found the tracking device and they decided to hide it in a tree. But what happened next? Did they turn themselves in?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Reports are that they tracked Cecil for 40 hours, almost TWO days, by following his blood trail. Then they shot him. Then they beheaded and skinned him, leaving the rest of his body to rot in the sun. (Man, that must've been a messy job.) Somewhere along the line they found his collar and tried to destroy it. Maybe they hid it in the tree when that didn' work, not sure, hadn't read that part before. I believe I read that they at some point thought better of it and made a report to authorities. Don't know the details and don't know which article it was from. As a pp pointed out, though, it was several weeks ago. Meanwhile, it made news when the research group and conservation groups began to figure out what happened and report it, then social media got ahold of it and it went viral.

Pictures of Cecil's dead body are absolutely nauseating. With a (too) white-toothed dentist and one of the goons, I mean guides, smiling above it. I think Scar was right.

 

[anniemae]

So was he trying to do the right thing? I'm not defending him, just wondering if he got caught, or if he and his group voluntarily turned themselves in? If the did not fess up, did he secretly flee Zimbabwe, or if he did fess up, was he allowed to leave? I just don't understand how it all went down.

 

[PAcpl]

This is all so sad and depressing.

I'm gonna go have a steak to cheer me up...

 

[Gumbo4x4]

So was he trying to do the right thing? I'm not defending him, just wondering if he got caught, or if he and his group voluntarily turned themselves in? If the did not fess up, did he secretly flee Zimbabwe, or if he did fess up, was he allowed to leave? I just don't understand how it all went down.

I think it's going to end up being somewhere in the middle. The PH now claims he had all the proper permits. The safari association says, "no". We'll see.


I do have to say, *IF* it turns out this was all on the up & up right up to the point they discarded the collar, I can kind of see why they would. If you were a white Rhodesian, would you want to turn that collar over to Mugabe's henchmen?

It all comes down to the permits. Do they exist or not? Are they in order or not?

 

[robinb]

This is a thread about Cecil the Lion.
I don't see the relevance of obvious political swipes. They just look like a hijack....

I think it's going to end up being somewhere in the middle. The PH now claims he had all the proper permits. The safari association says, "no". We'll see.


I do have to say, *IF* it turns out this was all on the up & up right up to the point they discarded the collar, I can kind of see why they would. If you were a white Rhodesian, would you want to turn that collar over to Mugabe's henchmen?

It all comes down to the permits. Do they exist or not? Are they in order or not?

And now race and Zimbabwean politics .

I don't think I have ever seen so many people want to side-track/hijack a thread in so many different directions before.

 

[Rhombus]

Well, that's all we need to know about you. No further discussion is warranted. Says far more of your character than that of the dentist and people he knows.

Aw shucks, thanks. I appreciate having fans on these boards.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

And now race and Zimbabwean politics .

I don't think I have ever seen so many people want to side-track/hijack a thread in so many different directions before.

Zimbabwean politics are hardly off topic, and it's impossible to accurately describe Zimbabwean politics without including race.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Am I wrong? Or did I read that Cecil was on protected land? It is so sad, I watch a live streaming safari and I am amazed at the lions and all the wild life I get to see. If it was all legal why does he not turn himself in? That tells me something.

 

[Planogirl]

Cecil apparently started on protected land but they lured him out with a fresh kill and then slaughtered him. It's sad.

Now I'll sit back and wait for the next attempted thread hijacking. It's interesting to watch.

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

Cecil apparently started on protected land but they lured him out with a fresh kill and then slaughtered him. It's sad.

Now I'll sit back and wait for the next attempted thread hijacking. It's interesting to watch.

It's interesting who gets to decide what is "off topic". So far it appears that anything other than "OMG the dentist is the most horrible person and needs to pay" is the only acceptable reply on here.

Rumours stand for facts. Guilty until proven innocent. It's like the Middle Ages with Twitter.

 

[TLSnell1981]

It's interesting who gets to decide what is "off topic". So far it appears that anything other than "OMG the dentist is the most horrible person and needs to pay" is the only acceptable reply on here.

Rumours stand for facts. Guilty until proven innocent. It's like the Middle Ages with Twitter.

I wonder, how many opinions will change, if the killing was legal?

BTW.. The dentist contacted authorities on Thursday and has agreed to cooperate with the investigation.

 

[dinolounger]

I'd imagine he has spoken to an attorney who is now giving him direction to not speak. It's not the popular thing to do, but he really has nothing to gain by speaking to authorities until he is ordered to. His falling off the grid I am positive is because of legal advice.

Exactly and -- while this does not mean I am supporting or defending him -- I am surprised that many here don't seem to understand that (a) he has every legal right to do everything possible to not further incriminate himself and (b) is doing precisely what most people getting good legal advice would do in similar circumstances. Unless the Feds find a way to charge him with something here without getting further testimony/evidence (which appears unlikely), the only legal threat he is facing is extradition, which Zimbabwe has said they "want" but needs to (and has not yet) filed a formal request for. And as I have explained in a separate post, extradition is a long, slow, drawn out process Palmer will have multiple opportunities to fight against.

He is not helping his case by ignoring the calls from the US Fish and Game people.

From a P.R. perspective, you are correct.

But from a legal perspective, dead wrong. What any defense lawyer would be telling him right now is that he doesn't benefit in any way from talking to the authorities.

BTW.. The dentist contacted authorities on Thursday and has agreed to cooperate with the investigation.

No, Palmer did not contact them and no one is stating there was any agreement was made to cooperate. from FOX:

"A Fish and Wildlife spokesperson issued this statement Friday afternoon: "Late yesterday afternoon the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement was contacted by a representative of Dr. Walter Palmer. The Service's investigation is ongoing and appreciates that Dr. Palmer's representative voluntarily reached out to the Service."

Sounds like legal counsel for Palmer simply contacted Fish and Wildlife. For all we know, it was just to say "I'm representing the Dr." Again, no statements whatsoever about "agreeing to cooperate."

It's interesting who gets to decide what is "off topic". So far it appears that anything other than "OMG the dentist is the most horrible person and needs to pay" is the only acceptable reply on here.

Rumours stand for facts. Guilty until proven innocent. It's like the Middle Ages with Twitter.

Exactly, but unfortunately by pointing that out you have now joined those of us who are targets of the social media vigilante crowd here. They can not tolerate any dissent.

 

[Hrhpd]

It's interesting who gets to decide what is "off topic". So far it appears that anything other than "OMG the dentist is the most horrible person and needs to pay" is the only acceptable reply on here.

Rumours stand for facts. Guilty until proven innocent. It's like the Middle Ages with Twitter.

I believe the thread title sets the standard for the thread.

In this case, the title is Cecil The Lion. Therefore, all information regarding Cecil the lion is on topic. It is on topic for somebody to be outraged at the dentist, to discuss any legal proceeding that might occur, hunting in Zimbabwe and the laws there and anything else that has to do with the thread title.

The thread title does not include topics regarding abortion, Planned Parenthood, Sea World, treatment of farm animals on a different continent, vegetarianism, etc. I don't see the thread title saying "You can't be outraged at Cecil the Lion because the way we treat animals in the US is worse."

Completely unrelated topics should be in their own threads. That said it is pretty common on the DIS for threads to go off topic. Since the Planned Parenthood threads were quickly shut down, numerous Sea World threads were eliminated and even the recent animal cruelty thread got heated, I can see why some are so passionate they might want to sneak their agendas into other threads to get a few posts in before they get that thread shut down too.

 

[Planogirl]

It's interesting who gets to decide what is "off topic". So far it appears that anything other than "OMG the dentist is the most horrible person and needs to pay" is the only acceptable reply on here.

Rumours stand for facts. Guilty until proven innocent. It's like the Middle Ages with Twitter.

I don't see anyone deciding anything here. I do see people giving their opinions but unfortunately some of those opinions keep mentioning topics that are taboo on the Disboards. I do believe that this dentist is a horrible person but I also believe that the authorities and public opinion will decide if there is any paying to be done.

 

[rajak73]

This is a thread about Cecil the Lion.
I don't see the relevance of obvious political swipes. They just look like a hijack....

Deleted comment, not worth the points.