[Yup, this guy was set up]
Tell us, then, on the intarwebz as you say, how the guy was “set up” if a specific animal wasn’t lured out.
This should be good.
Before having a go at new posters why don't you respond to mine?
Do you have any comprehension as to how large Hwange National Park is?
In such a huge area as Hwange, do you recognize the improbability of a lion that sometimes lived inside the park and at other times outside was a "park favorite"?
Do you understand that the guide did just what wildlife documentary photographers do which is to bait the area?
Do you understand that if the guide put a carcass out, who was to say a leopard, or pack or hyenas, or jackals, or wild dogs, or other scavengers wouldn't come along to claim it?
And how did they lure 'Cecil', did they know his favorite food? Baiting cats on the continent of Africa isn't uncommon. Predators come to bait.
Good to see the thread is still percolating.
So, since you asked, here’s how I figure that our dentist is the victim in this saga.
First off, he paid the going rate for a legitimate African lion hunt. He went to a licensed, professional guide, who organized a hunt on private land all of which is Standard Operating Procedure for legal big-game hunt in Africa. I haven’t googled the guide’s reputation (assuming that’s still possible given all of the hullabaloo on the internet lately), but deploying Occam’s razor, if a fellow who’s actually earned the money is going to part with 50 large, I think that it’s reasonable to assume that he checked the guide’s rep and, well, he checked out ok.
That, and if you’re going to go do something as stupid as poach a Lion, you’re not going to post that on your Facebook page. So, I say, our Dentist exercised reasonable due diligence, and was operating under the understanding that he was going on a legal hunt. And, just as a reminder, this is Zimbabwe, so the concept of “legal” is always up to interpretation. Jeff Cooper had some succinct words worthy of your inspection regarding Mr. Mugabe’s little “republic”.
But I digress.
Second, I’m suspicious when the left-wing attack machine is so...ready. Remember, this happened in Africa. And somehow within a few days, the social-media attack dogs, the mainstream media attack, er, poodles, and half a dozen “animal rights” PR firms are spooled up and gunning for this guy. Almost as if they were ready and waiting for just the right schmoe to come stumbling into their little stand. So there’s that.
But getting back to your question about someone somehow luring a “specific animal”. Stop and think, just for a moment, about that question. Bait is legal in some places and circumstances, illegal in others, but put that aside for a second. One puts out a side of beef in hopes of attracting a critter that eats meat. That’s all well and good...perhaps you’re not picky, any predator will do...hyena, leopard, maybe a lion or two. But, the only thing in your control is what bait you set out, and where you put it: if there’s a pack of hyenas in the area, there’s nothing on God’s green earth you can do about stopping them coming over for a snack. Not only can you not select the individual animal to lure, you can’t even select the species.
That is simply the nature of the problem: lots of things eat meat in Africa. If they find your bait, they will come eat it. Full stop.
Anyone who’s ever gone fishing would understand this: you put a piece of bait on your hook, drop your line where you hope there’s a fish, but when you reel in your line, you never really know what kind of fish might have hit. Let alone a particular fish. That’s just....crazy.
But anyway, even more to the point, it’s not even clear that setting out bait was illegal. It’s not even established that this particular trophy is “Cecil”. And it is certainly not even remotely established that the Dentist from Wisconsin, even if this hunt was not technically legal according to Robert Mugabe is guilty of anything other than being an unwitting victim for a bunch of animal rights trolls.