By: Mark & Pamela Robinson As part of CecilTheLion.Org’s and the Cecil the Lion Facebook Community’s support of the animal conservation efforts of the students of Whitehall Elementary School, it has been Pamela and my privilege to bring five of the Project Cecil Rocks provided by Ms. Good along with us on each of the Cecil Safaris to Zimbabwe in 2017 and 2019. Many of you will remember and can now see the videos from the 2017 Cecil Safari, where the last of the five Project Cecil Rocks were placed by Brent and Oliver Stapelkamp in the exact spot that all nine of Cecil’s pride had been drinking. Brent was the Oxford based researcher who had named, collared and was researching Cecil when Cecil was slaughtered by an American hunter. Brent has become our friend and is a hero among conservationists. Shortly after placing the final rock where we hoped we could photograph it with Cecil’s pride when they came back down to drink, an elephant, panicking at the smell of the pride when the wind shifted, perma-stomped the rock into the mud, making sure it stayed in Cecil’s territory forever. Thus, the pride now owns the orange rock. Brent’s […]
As Seen In Washington Post – By Pamela Constable “ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The photograph, published last week in Pakistani newspapers, was stunning. It showed a magnificent mountain goat, with huge, symmetrically spiral horns, nestled on a rock and surrounded by breathtaking snowy mountains, with a man kneeling and smiling behind it. It took a few seconds to realize that the animal, a wild Astore markhor, was dead. The caption described the man as an American hunter who had paid a record $110,000 to shoot it on a tourist expedition to Pakistan’s northern Himalayan region of Gilgit-Baltistan. “It was an easy and close shot. I am pleased to take this trophy,” the hunter, identified as Bryan Kinsel Harlan, was quoted as saying. His home state or city was not identified, but his Pakistani guides said he is from Texas. Harlan could not be reached by The Washington Post for comment. The story drew immediate expressions of sorrow and indignation on social media here. Some Pakistani commentators asked why there was no legal ban on hunting the markhor (Capra falconeri), which is the official national animal. Others suggested that foreign tourists be taken to photograph the exotic goats, not shoot them. But there is […]
We would encourage all of you to read through this entire blog. You will be amazed at what is taking place right now in our beloved Zimbabwe. We were vacationing in Italy when I received word of Cecil’s slaughter three years ago this week. Having spent time with Pamela filming and photographing Cecil a year earlier, I was devastated. I couldn’t bring myself to share this horrible news with Pamela until we returned home later in the week. Our world, our lives have not been the same since. What was it about THIS lion? After all, we saw dozens of lions during our time in Zimbabwe and Botswana that August. What was it about this lion named Cecil that caused the igniting of a global firestorm? In retrospect, Cecil was not so much a lion as a galvanizing symbol of all that is wrong with Human Greed. The kind of greed that would have a convicted poacher feel that this lion should belong to HIM alone, and that the thousands who came to see Cecil every year should… well, they should just understand. The kind of greed that deforests wide swaths of land with no concern for the effect on […]
This very special series of shirts uses designs and artwork created by the members of Cecil The Lions Facebook Community in support of the #CecilLives campaign. Style 1: Save the Lions – In Memory of Cecil $35.00 – Women’s and Men’s T-shirt styles Become a supporter of Conservation and Wildlife Fund: Hwange! Click here to buy now! Style 2: Save the Lions: In Memory of Cecil $35.00 – Women’s and Men’s T-shirt styles Become a supporter of Conservation and Wildlife Fund: Hwange! Click here to buy now!
Two years ago on this date, an old male lion was killed in Africa… So what?? Lions have been getting killed by hunters in Africa for centuries. What was it that made this killing any different than the killing of any other lion? What caused this event to coalesce groups and individuals from around the world to decide that this would be the event that launched a worldwide uproar? That lion was nearing the end of its life anyway. And why should someone care about a lion when there are so many issues of greater concern in our own backyards, neighborhoods, cities and countries? And what has happened in these two years as a result of this event in a place so far away and remote and inaccessible to so many? These are some of the questions we’ve been asked in the two years since this Facebook Community was born out of compassion, outrage, conviction and the demand that things must change when it comes to the so-called “trophy hunting”, more accurately the slaughter of Africa’s endangered and threatened species. Why Cecil? Why did HE matter to so many? We live in a society where a battle rages on between […]
Yes. Zimbabwe! Since the Cecil Safari event in August of 2017 was announced, we have had an amazing response. There are still a few openings for those lucky enough to be able to join us. In addition to the enthusiastic responses we’ve received to providing the opportunity to visit Cecil’s territory, see his pride and the other magnificent game at Hwange National Park, we’ve had a number of Community members question our decision to go to Zimbabwe. After all, we’ve heard (i) the government there is corrupt, (ii) they do little to protect their own threatened and endangered species and in fact sell them to be shipped abroad, (iii) hunting is a significant part of the economy surrounding Hwange and (iv) they let both Palmer and Bronkhorst get away with killing Cecil. All true. Very regretfully true. So what, you might ask, would make us return to Zimbabwe and invite others to join us? Why would we promote tourism to a country with such a dismal record in animal welfare? How could we encourage travel there? We are happy to have the chance to address these questions, as our return is the direct result of all of the above truths. […]
“It is said that the male lion will often sacrifice itself for the good of the pride. Lions live in a very spiritual world” – Somalisa Concession guide’s words to Mark and Pamela Robinson, August 2014 in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. And so began our introduction to Cecil the Lion and pride on a warm afternoon on Day One of our visit to Africa and Hwange National Park. Words that have taken on far greater significance in light of events that took place less than a year later. We were relaxing in Italy after a friend’s wedding in the beautiful Piedmonte region when we received a text informing us that Cecil had been killed. We had spent two afternoons the prior summer filming and photographing Cecil and pride. We were absolutely crushed. We still are. Of all the memories of three amazing weeks traveling in Africa, none had the impact that our time with Cecil had. On the first outing, Cecil’s partner Jericho was roaring in the distance and Cecil, resting while the females lay behind him with the cubs hidden under a large branch pile, got up to see what Jericho was up to. Slowly he walked from 100 […]