Zimbabwe’s most prized lion; Cecil was killed following a food bait and special scent that lured it out of the Hwange National Park. The international backlash burst its seams when a group called the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force cried foul on what it deemed as poaching. The public outrage reverberated across the globe and Dr. Palmer has gone into hiding. His accomplices; Honest Ndlovu and Theo Bronkhorst are currently facing charges at the Hwange Magistrate Court in Zimbabwe. Kadiri Tolani puts the issue on the spotlight

 Cecil perhaps could pass as the fictional King Mufasa in the famous cartoon titled Lion King. Mufasa was the brave king of Pride Land loved by his pride and other animals living in the jungle. Mufasa however was killed in what his brother; Scar, tagged as the coup of the century- the murkiest scam. Like Mufasa, Cecil was also lured out of his comfort zone and was controversially mutinied.

Cecil barely knew that he was not really living in a world of his own. He was not only the head of his own pride but arguably the most iconic beast in Hwange National Park. His fame even after death is being attested to by the keen interest researchers from Oxford University had in it. But for the saving grace of the GPS collar put on it by Oxford researchers, Cecil’s death would have been shrouded in controversies like the fate of the thousands of animals hunted for trophies annually.

As regards the propriety or otherwise of those who killed Zimbabwe’s most iconic lion, the very fundamental question that needs to be answered bothers on the gullibility of the Trophy Tanneries who cede licenses to hunting farms and legal hunters. Suppose Cecil was a helpless deer or zebra, the world might as well cast a blind eye to the actions of Dr. Palmer and his accomplices.

The untimely death of this iconic lion will definitely put a gag on the penchant of most airlines that hitherto indulged in the ferrying of trophies. Not less than seven major airlines across the globe have announced a change in rule and introduced bans in the wake of the online petition that greeted the death of Cecil.

Be that as it may, it becomes an issue of curiosity considering the appetite of magniloquence generated among Africans over the death of a lion. One begins to wonder if a mere lion under the cocoons of a reservation park could attract more fame than the average Zimbabwean who really knows where the shoe pinches. Does Cecil actually cut an iconic image among Zimbabweans as he has done in the global circle courtesy of the furore that trailed his death? Had Theo Bronkhorst and Honest Ndlovu been citizens of Malawi or Somalia, would they have had an indifferent disposition towards poaching?

Dr. Walter Palmer appears to be the major gladiator, having paid a whooping sum of $50,000 for the legal hunt of a lion. The seemingly precious amount paid for such expedition by Dr. Palmer is twenty-five times more than the Gross Domestic Product of Zimbabwe. This should really cast the grim spectacle of desperation which many Zimbabweans feel bothered about. A lion, before the average Zimbabwean is not a priority and could perhaps fall so low in the scale of preference considering the malady of hunger, oppression, human rights violation and hyperinflation bedeviling millions of Zimbabweans.

The last is really yet to be heard of this case. The tempest is bound to brew and no one can categorically tell where the trajectory of the trial would eventually lead to. His career as a safari hunting guide has been tainted and might take several years before the infamy peddled against him dies down. It should not come as a surprise if Honest Ndlovu’s farmland is named after Cecil many years after the case has been put to rest. The six cubs that were sired by Cecil might as well attract the iconic status of their late father should they survive in the pride and could be forgotten if the new lion that takes over the pride kills them in line with the norm of the jungle.

Whichever way it goes, providence has judged the once regal king of Hwange National Park rightly. Adieu Cecil!