DO YOU REMEMBER MY FRIEND CECIL?

The story of Cecil the Lion told through the lenses of a fellow Lion.

 By Sonny Mncedisi Dube 

Do you remember my friend Cecil? He was a good one, a buddy. He was a friend to both humans and nonhuman animals alike. All the humans loved him, at least he thought they did, to some extent they sure did. We too thought the same, the affection, the attention and care they would dispense to him was something to be envied.

He was on the spotlight; different human souls would flock from the farthest parts of the world to cherish this beauty of our kind. Cecil and all our kind alike really interest humans, the question as to why and how would least matter only if no harm came with this interest. The measure of human interest could be witnessed through photo shoot sprees that would colour the pastimes of their stay, with Cecil and a few others as centers of attraction. Who wouldn’t admire his benevolence and his unfailing cheerfulness, a remarkable creature Cecil was. 

It wasn’t long before Cecil died a cruel death. What he went through is nothing desirable nor decent for all non-human animals. It’s something despicable as I would call it. An experimental slaughter, a slow and painful departure, such unimaginable cruelty is what humans proved to be masters of. To think that the same Cecil whom they took photos of and with, they played with and admired is the same they would subject to such torture is a saddening reality. It comes not as a shock that the perpetrators of such cruelty still walk free to this day because the human-made laws and policies validate such cruelty. Their laws are designed to see us as experimental and profit generating objects. To them[humans] we are mere objects at their disposal to gratify the need to measure up to global socioeconomic standards.

The way they fence us you might think they care, although to some degree they do it’s all a part of a protracted process to trade you for a handful Benjamin Franklins when they knock on the door. You might even mistake the temporary comfort and camera flashlights for true love, don’t let them fool you, it’s all a smokescreen. Since they traded Cecil’s soul for thirty (30) pieces of silver, I never ceased to doubt the genuineness of mankind towards the welfare of nonhuman animals. In their eyes we are disposable beings, to our sentience they have little or no regard. I have always known of my value, my intrinsic value of course, but the interest that humans show in my kindred and I makes me wonder if they see the same value or to them I mean nothing more than just a dollar sign. Kings and Queens of the jungle we are but my fellow lions and lionesses always know this unsavoury truth ‘WE ARE HUNTED’. We are prey to the same humans in whose sentiment we have a temporary existence.

In light of human-made laws Cecil’s killers are faultless, but in our hearts and in the hearts of many others they will always be guilty. I mourn a friend and a soul departed too soon whilst they count a handsome sum of dollars down the drain. I to this day as Cecil’s kindred and close friend fear for my inevitable fate, but it is with a conscious mind that I request a GOOD LAWYER, if not for me then for my offspring and a whole future generation at least, to plead my case before the courts of law, to save the lions and all nonhuman animals from extinction. The legislative stance in the domain of hunting laws need substantial change, I would in a good day advocate for an abolitionist stance but unfortunately I CAN’T SPEAK BUT THEY CAN and I trust my lawyers to voice my concerns and instil progressive legislative change. 

The above short story is told from one Lions’ perspective in Hwange National Park who requested anonymity for the obvious reasons. Having lived and conversed with Cecil the Lion he narrates his friends’ plight that occurred six (6) years ago as a wakeup call that warrants legislative change and widespread conscious activism on animal rights and interests. From his narration, he makes it clear that what happened to Cecil the Lion will continue to happen to many other nonhuman animals as far as the legislation remains unreformed towards an animal-centric stance. It is high time we take seriously animals as part of our pristine environment and emphasize their interests as protected under the Constitution of Zimbabwe which is the grundnorm law of the land. 

Who Was Cecil the Lion 

 In brevity Cecil (2002 – 2 July 2015) was a lion who lived primarily in the Hwange National Park in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe. He was being studied and tracked by a research team of the University of Oxford as part of a long-term study. On the night of 1 July 2015, Cecil was wounded with an arrow by Walter Palmer, an American recreational big-game hunter, then tracked and killed with a bow and arrow the following morning, between 10 and 12 hours later. Cecil was 13 years old when killed. Palmer had a permit and was not charged with any crime. Two Zimbabweans, the owner of the farm where the hunt took place, and the hunting guide, were briefly arrested but the charges were eventually dismissed by courts. The killing resulted in international media attention, caused outrage among animal conservationists, criticism by politicians and celebrities and a strong negative response against Palmer. Five months after the killing of Cecil, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added lions in India and West and Central Africa to the endangered species list, making it more difficult for United States citizens to legally kill lions.

 

SONNY MNCEDISI DUBE is an LLBS Student at The University of Zimbabwe; A member of Speak Out for Animals and a Freelance Writer amongst other things. 

sonnymncedisi@gmail.com

 0718533598