The photo above is not Cecil, but another beautiful male lion in Botswana.

Cecil the Lion

We hope that the tragedy of Cecil the Lion’s death will draw attention to the issue of big game hunting.  This death highlights the fact that big game hunting threatens species that already struggle with poaching and environmental factors.  On our recent trip to the Arctic, our naturalist Heidi pointed out that legal big game hunting of polar bears continues mostly in Canada—shockingly the issue gets almost no attention.  Russia outlawed the hunting of polar bears in 1957 except in Chukotka region where the hunt was reinstated in 2011 for indigenous people to hunt and kill 29 polar bears each year, including 19 females. The continued senseless killing of big game animals in some areas of the Arctic, Africa, and other wilderness areas around the globe needs to stop.

Polar bear on the pack ice north of Svalbard

This morning NPR reported that “more than 18,000 tourists travel to Africa every year to go big game hunting” and pointed out that more than half of them are American even though recent polls show 95% of Americans oppose the activity.  This should be considered a foreign affairs issue since the hunters impact America’s global image.

It’s time for big game hunters to pick up cameras instead!  If they want to prove their skill, a beautiful image of a wild animal is much more challenging to achieve and more rewarding than a trophy.