Curious,
If the lion cubs are doomed and the lion population is so low, why won't the animal rights idiots save the cubs and relocate them? I'm guessing they contribute nothing to the overall conservation of lions except for hot air and finger pointing? I wonder who pays for the park and all the conservation programs including shooting the poachers selling critter parts to the chicoms??? Bet it isn't the concrete living, do nothing, never been in the woods, "animal rights" fundraisers. Liberalism is a cancer.
That point about the cubs caught my attention too when I saw that some were whining about the runner-up's killing the cubs so the lionesses would come into heat and they could create their own progeny.
There are, as you write, several stupid positions is the reports. Focusing on this one lion and one hunter, whose hunt seemed pretty typical, except for the unresolved questions about licenses, seems quite wrong-headed to me.
I do understand that "Cecil" was great-looking and it would be good for the gene pool if his cubs were preserved, but I suspect that he has already made substantial efforts in that regard.
Also, it is accepted that "Cecil" (a stupid anthropomorphic idea to give such a name to a lion) is 13 years old. Given that the full life span of lions in the wild is only 10-14 years, he was about due anyway.
As for the university researchers, most respected researchers that I have followed who study other species are not terribly upset if a collared specimen is taken by a hunter. That is common and is the luck of the draw. Journalists are making assumptions that I suspect are incorrect.
Too bad that the PH et all. concealed the collar, but in a place like Zimbabwe, which I know a little about, who is to say others would not do the same thing. The rule of law is not so dependable there.
All in all, I reserve judgment on any possible wrongdoing without more facts. I surely would not rely on the British tabloids -- or US TV comedians who pretend to be legitimate social critics (if there is such a thing.)
