I have nothing at all against people hunting ducks, wild boar, wild geese, deer and other animals that are not endangered if they actually eat them, or perhaps shoot pest animals like rats or raccoons. Hunters that are careless tend to shoot themselves or one another. There is a Darwin Effect occasionally.
Since natural predators like wolves and cougars are extinct in many parts of the country, they probably do maintain a balance. Of course, the natural predators eliminate mostly the weaker animals, while someone hunting with a gun may not.
The problem with this dentist is that he almost certainly was aware that the $55,000 he paid to hunt a lion would not go to the Zimbabwean government. That country is extremely corrupt. As for his hunting not being properly sporting, it was no less sporting than teenage Masai in Tanzania hunting lions with a spear.
Luring the lion off the reserve with a carcass was not very sporting. I imagine that if a Masai had a friend with a Land Rover he might try it.
Of course, a Minneapolis dentist does not really have a need to satisfy his ego by killing a lion. He does not have to face growing up with the entire tribe thinking he is a sissy. Once a park hangs a name on a particular animal, as they did with Cecil, then hunting it is clearly a big no-no.
By the way, Zimbabwe was once Rhodesia, named for CECIL Rhodes. I suspect that was where they got the name. One might expect a Zimbabwean lion to have a Shona or Ndebele name.
