The Hunter Becomes the Hunted
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In a suburb of Minneapolis huge houses and SUVs on the prowl roam the streets. Eden Prairie’s apparent paradise image has been destroyed, though. In it lurks a villain created and destroyed by the media.
Walter Palmer, a dentist in Eden Prairie, has had his photograph splashed all over the web and pages of newspapers. So has Cecil the lion.
Dentistry obviously pays very well – perhaps too well – for Mr Palmer as he decided to pay $50,000 to kill a lion in a national park in Zimbabwe. $55,000, by the way, is enough to build a school there.
Palmer and his ‘hunting guides’ tracked the lion after luring if out of the park for forty hours before brutally murdering the lion with a rifle.
In a written statement, Palmer attempted to defend his actions: “I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favourite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt.”
But to nobody’s surprise, his weak defense was simply not enough. Whether of not Palmer knew of Cecil the lion’s status and reputation, what he did has been deemed as ‘foul’ and ‘disgusting’ by many people around the world. Celebrities including Ricky Jervais and Joannah Lumley have also condemned Palmer’s actions.
Of course, there are people who take the hate for Palmer to an extreme. The hunter has became the hunted as people are allegedly ‘out to get [him]’ and some have even made threats to kill his brother.
Whatever happens, let’s hope he’s learnt his lesson this time.