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Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Dan Ashe announced that his agency has opened an investigation of the "tragic killing" of Cecil the lion by American dentist Walter Palmer. Cecil was a major attraction at the Hwange National Park in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe. Palmer reportedly paid some locals $50,000 to lure the lion outside the park. Palmer then killed the lion with an arrow. Ashe characterized the killing as "a senseless act of cruelty against an innocent animal. It has shocked the world in a way that no other act has in recent memory. It is imperative that...

The Obama administration is moving to investigate the death of Cecil The Lion, in reaction to the online uproar over the news that the huge African cat was killed by an American dentist.

An American dentist has been accused of killing a well-known lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe earlier this month, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (WCTF) confirmed. The Zimbabwe tourism authority named the man accused of killing Cecil as Walter Palmer, a Minnesota dentist and avid big-game hunter. “#WalterJamesPalmer was the man who killed #CecilTheLion. This was an #illegalhunt,” the authority posted on Twitter. The Associated Press reported that Zimbabwean conservationists had accused an American of paying $50,000 to kill the lion. The American “shot the lion with a bow and arrow." ... Rodrigues told the Star that the...

Cecil the lion is dead, killed illegally in Zimbabwe, authorities allege, by a foreign hunter or hunters who paid about $55,000 for the privilege.

Cecil, a 13-year-old lion, wandered out of his sanctuary in a national park in Zimbabwe this month, following the scent of a potential snack. At the other end of Cecil’s search was a lure, placed there by hunters who, conservationists say, wanted their prey to cross into unprotected territory so they could kill him. Cecil, well known to those who visited the Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe for his jet black mane, was beheaded, according to conservation officials. His corpse was left to rot in the sun. Zimbabwean officials said that Dr. Walter J. Palmer, an American hunter known...

Dr Walter Palmer is a dentist in the human happiness business. His website, at the River Bluff Dental clinic in Minnesota, says he ‘strives to create dazzling smiles’. For 27 years this self-anointed kindly man has showered his patients with extraordinary care and comfort, ensuring they leave his surgery immeasurably more self-confident than when they entered. His official photograph on the website exudes almost Saintly virtue; Palmer’s own gleaming dentures shining beatifically beneath his warm, bespectacled, twinkling eyes. But there’s another side to Dr Palmer. A side he alludes to right at the very end of a Q&A on the...

The Internet has been set ablaze by news that a U.S. dentist on safari shot and killed Zimbabwe’s Cecil the lion, apparently a beloved figure in that African country.Already more than 800,000 people have signed an online petition demanding “justice” for Cecil, but how well-known was Cecil before his death? The Daily Caller News Foundation found that Cecil’s Wikipedia page had only been created July 29, 2015 — after news of Cecil’s death had been reported in the news.According to Wikipedia’s edit history, an editor “created [the] article with material from Hwange National Park.” Hwange is the national park where...

The meaning of an individual animal Among the reasons not to feel outraged about the killing of Cecil the lion are these two: he had a human name and he was a well-known tourist attraction. I say ‘tourist attraction’ instead of 'beloved lion’ because that hackneyed phrase seems to me a concept empty of meaning. How can a lion be wild and be 'beloved’ by people who saw him once from a safari jeep? You don’t earn the right to 'love’ a lion that way. Cecil was a wild lion who was habituated to humans, collared for a biology study,...

...Animal Rights Groups Are Desperate to Cover Up Both social media and the progressive mainstream media have been in an uproar over the past few days about the death of “Cecil,” a 13-year-old lion in Zimbabwe. Cecil was killed in an organized licensed hunt by a big game hunter, Minnesota dentist Dr. Walter Palmer, who has now gone into hiding after receiving numerous death threats from outraged animal rights activists. However, it would appear that the outrage surrounding the death of Cecil is what is commonly known as a “First World Problem,” as residents of Zimbabwe were mostly unaware of,...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the agency is investigating the killing of Cecil the Lion, saying it will “go where facts lead.” The agency made the announcement via Twitter Thursday. Also Thursday, the Eden Prairie Police Department said that, while they will be stepping up neighborhood monitoring, they will not be providing personal protection for the dentist who killed a protected lion in Zimbabwe. “Because of the increased traffic in the neighborhood of Walter Palmer’s residence, the Eden Prairie Police Department is monitoring the neighborhood to ensure the safety and security of the residents and their property,”...

U.S. wildlife agencies will assist Zimbabwean authorities in their investigation into the killing of the iconic African lion, Cecil, according to a published report. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports dentist Walter Palmer has not been charged in Zimbabwe, though his guide and outfitter have. Palmer, who lives in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie and practices in nearby Bloomington, said late Tuesday he regretted the animal’s death, but thought he was acting legally.

Human rights lawyers in Zimbabwe have filed a court application seeking the release of an activist they suspect was abducted by state agents. The lawyers said Tuesday that Itai Dzamara, leader of a movement called Occupy Africa Unity Square, has been missing since Monday morning and that his family and associates have no idea of the activist's whereabouts.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — While the death of a protected lion in Zimbabwe has caused outrage in the United States — much of it centered on the Minnesota dentist who killed the animal — most in Zimbabwe expressed a degree of bafflement over the concern. The discovery that Cecil, the star of Zimbabwe national park had been lured out and killed by American bow hunter Walter James Palmer has resulted in online anger and protests at his dental clinic. Outside Zimbabwe's environmental and activist circles, however, the reaction been muted. "It's so cruel, but I don't understand the whole fuss,...

The Internet exploded in outrage this week after it was revealed that a Minnesota tourist killed a beloved lion while on a hunting expedition in Zimbabwe. That indignation reached Capitol Hill yesterday, as 4th District Rep. Betty McCollum was quick to call for justice for the protected African lion, fondly referred to as Cecil the Lion. [Snip] “To bait and kill a threatened animal, like this African lion, for sport cannot be called hunting, but rather a disgraceful display of callous cruelty,” McCollum said. Palmer says he was not aware that the lion was a protected animal, and regrets what...

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the Family Leadership Summit. Donald Trump is still the clear front-runner of the 2016 GOP presidential field. A new Economist/YouGov poll released on Friday actually showed Trump gaining support in the last week, despite a controversy over his comments questioning Sen. John McCain's (R-Arizona) status as a "war hero." According to the poll, the number of registered Republican primary voters who responded that Trump is their first choice jumped from 15% at the beginning of July to 28% last week. Another 10% of voters pick him as their second choice. That puts the real-estate...

A day after Donald Trump announced the formation of “Veterans For Trump,” a small New Hampshire-based coalition that supports the bellicose business mogul’s bid for the White House, at least two of the veterans named as supporters distanced themselves from team Trump. The announcement of the veterans group came five days after Trump said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is only considered a war hero because he was captured by the enemy during the Vietnam War. “I don’t know anything about it,” said Ernie Fusi, a World War II veteran whose name was still listed among the 51 veteran supporters on...

RUSH: Today is Thursday. Last weekend was four days ago. Depending on which day of the weekend you go back to, it could be five days ago. And if you have wishful thinking about weekends it could be six days ago, all the way back to last Friday. What happened last weekend? Donald Trump supposedly took himself out of the presidential race with one sentence about John McCain. I mean, that's what the conventional wisdom told us. From the moment it was reported that Trump said he wasn't impressed with McCain because he's not impressed with people that get captured,...

FULL TITLE: Minnesota lawmakers urge Governor Dayton to investigate Planned Parenthood after undercover videos released ROCHESTER / ALBERT LEA, Minn. (KTTC) -- Planned Parenthood is feeling the heat this week after a couple of undercover videos revealed some troubling conversations with some of the organization's executives. It has lawmakers across the country calling for investigations, including many here in Minnesota. Planned Parenthood has strongly defended itself against the accusations sparking from these videos, yet legislators are not so convinced. A list of 65 Minnesota lawmakers are calling on Governor Mark Dayton to launch an investigation in the wake of national...

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura says he’s backing Sen. Bernie Sanders in his bid for president. In a blog post on his independent media site, Ventura praised Sanders for challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination. “I think what Bernie Sanders is doing is extremely healthy,” Ventura wrote. “I love the idea of somebody throwing a fly in the ointment.” This isn’t the first time Ventura backed a presidential candidate looking to shake up the system. In 2008 and 2012, Ventura backed Republican Ron Paul for president. In 2004, Ventura backed Democrat John Kerry against Republican President George W. Bush....

A triumphant and unrepentant Donald Trump launched a barrage of personal attacks and name-calling on his campaign rivals Tuesday, most notably calling South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham an “idiot” handing out Graham’s cell phone number to the whole world He dismissed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as “weak on immigration,” and mocked Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s glasses and Hillary Clinton’s hand wave. “What a stiff, what a stiff, Lindsey Graham. By the way he has registered zero in the polls,” Trump said, at an appearance in Bluffton, S.C. “A total lightweight. In the private sector, he couldn’t get a job.”...