This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
There are A LOT of people angry and upset over the news that a Minnesota dentist and trophy hunter recently killed Cecil, a beloved 13-year-old lion popular at one of Zimbabwe's national parks. That includes Jimmy Kimmel, who got choked up last night on his late-night show just thinking about the lion.
Kimmel gave a nearly five-minute emotional monologue about Cecil, giving a rundown about what had happened earlier this month. He slammed Walter Palmer, the 55-year-old dentist accused of shelling out $50,000 and hiring professional guides to lead him to the lion so he could get the opportunity to kill him. The hunters have been accused of luring the animal outside of Hwange National Park, with Palmer shooting him with a bow and arrow. Although Cecil wasn't killed but wounded in the attack, the hunters later found the lion, skinned and beheaded him.
"The big question is why are you shooting a lion in the first place?" Kimmel asks in the clip. "I mean, I'm honestly curious to know why a human being would feel compelled to do that. How is that fun? Is it that difficult for you to get an erection that you need to kill things?"
Kimmel ended his segment with a request that his viewers donate money to Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, the wildlife preservation group that put a GPS collar on Cecil and studied him before he was killed. That's when Kimmel got teary-eyed at the 4:13-minute mark of the video.
"Maybe we can show everyone that not all Americans are like this jackhole," Kimmel says.
Cecil was admired by the locals and drew crowds out to the national park. Palmer is facing poaching charges, though he said he initially had no idea he killed a famous and beloved lion. Yelpers have also taken justice in their own hands and have left scathing reviews on Palmer's Yelp page for his dentistry practice.
