Ted Nugent has weighed in on the killing of Cecil the lion, calling the story “a lie.”
US dentist Walter Palmer caused outrage when he shot and killed Zimbabwe’s most famous animal in what he believed was a legal hunt. But, Cecil was being monitored as part of an Oxford University study into lion conservation and was a major tourist attraction at the Hwange National Park – Zimbabwe’s largest game reserve.
Nugent, who is known for his pro-hunting stance, was drawn into the conversation on Facebook when he was asked for his thoughts on the incident.
He wrote, “The whole story is a lie. It was a wild lion from a ‘park’ where hunting is legal and essential beyond the park borders. All animals reproduce every year and would run out of room/food to live without hunting. I will write a full piece on this joke ASAP. God are people stupid.”
Palmer and his guides reportedly lured Cecil from the park before Palmer shot the beast with a bow and arrow. They then caught up with the injured lion 40 hours later where it was shot with a rifle and beheaded.
Palmer said he regretted his actions but maintains he had no idea the lion was a local favorite.
Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum called Nugent a “sick individual” last year when the guitarist posed with a picture of a dead groundhog.
additional source: classicrock.teamrock.com
97 Responses
Okay, I said I wouldn’t get into the hunting debate, but where I live, hunting is a way of life. I personally don’t hunt, although I fish all the time. But there’s a difference between hunting to feed yourself and your family and trophy hunting. That’s what this lion kill was: A trophy hunt for some idiot to prove he’s a man. It’s not about overpopulation, it wasn’t about a lion that had killed people. It was strictly a way for some idiot to prove he’s a man by taking the life of a lion that was uncalled for.
I hate dentists even more now.
Thank you, James K.,
That was the point I was trying to make, but I did so in a much more long winded, over emotional way. Ahh, the pitfalls of having estrogen, my friend. 😉
D 🙂
But here’s the thing: be as morally outraged as you feel you have to be about hunting – for sport or otherwise – but always remember. There was a time when the general population thought that homosexual behavior was “immoral” too. Do we get to call homosexuals some of the names we’re calling this guy? I don’t think so. So while it’s okay to have opinions (America, free speech, yadda yadda) it’s NOT okay to blow up this guy’s work website, plaster his home with violent and angry messages and in general threaten the well-being of him and his family. If he committed a crime, let the courts decide his fate as we do in all other cases. I’m not defending him – I too think sport hunting is immoral – but I think abortion is immoral too, yet I am vehemently pro-choice, because it isn’t my place to tell someone else what their morals should be. I defend anyone’s right to choose to make their own decisions in that regard.
Dana, I know you’re passionate about this, and you should be, but it is too serious an issue for “flip” comments and “Twitter-bite” commentary.
Bill,
If you read my ENTIRE comments, I was only being flippant ONCE in my initial post when I wrote “..and Ted should fined for his low IQ.” That is the only comment I was being facetious about, I certainly was not being flippant when I said the hunter, poacher and everyone else involved in this incident should be fined for their actions in this tragedy. I only mentioned it because Mr. Fred took my comment literally, and suggested that I was implying that Nugent should be censored?! Sorry, but at the risk of sounding rude, please read every sentence of my comments, and replies to others, before you rush to judgement and criticize me.
You know, I could have easily avoided sharing this in the news section, nor commented on it, knowing that it is a controversial topic, and that my thoughts on the subject opened me up to critique, but, I chose not to take the easy way out on this issue. A person who is “flip” and using “Twitter-bite” commentary, would not have even bothered to address this topic if they were not passionate, and very serious, about it.
Dana
Dana, I agree with the general point that Bill is making.
I don’t know Eddie Trunk’s views on this matter, but he many times has eloquently denounced the way social media participants get carried away, all because there are no consequences to flaming. He’s right.
About a year ago, somebody posted a picture of Steven Spielberg posing with a “dead” triceratops, presumably during the filming of Jurassic Park.
Some idiots actually went berserk and started denouncing Spielberg, calling for a boycott, etc., because they thought he had killed a dinosaur!
Social media maximizes about constitutional free speech, but does little for constitutional due process.
You make a great point except that, as far as I know, Ted did post that response on his Facebook without being educated about this particular Lion. Then, he has the nerve to say the public is “stupid?” SMH…
D 🙂
I did read your post, in it’s entirety, and it was well thought out and from the heart. I’m sorry if you took my comment to be dismissive of what you said. Perhaps I should have been clearer, but my comment was a general one, using your example. Not a critique of you.
Okay, thank you for your clarification.
I apologize for the misunderstanding, and I hope, that I did not offend you as well.
Cheers,
D 🙂
Poor, old, washed up Nugent. We all could of guessed Nugent would come running on this issue. It’s just stale Ted. Your rants seem to remind me of Charles Manson, just on going mental health babble. We get it, it’s just your niche, to come running every time the paid media reports on a “cruel hunting” issue. Kinda like Al Sharpton making an appearance when a minority group gathers. Not sure why I’m wasting my time replying on any of this typical Ted media babble. Who wants to go to a rock show and hear Ted talk politics…just play your stale 70’s songs and get off the stage. Less talk at shows and more music would be a better topic to address. By the way, a million to one says Nugent votes Democrat at the polls. His gimmick of this die hard republican, gun wielding, proud American is a sham. All his scams are just something to keep his wallet padded as his music can’t keep in him business, so Al Sharpton and Ted share a lot in common, pure American shams.
I’m a hunter. And yes the animals I shoot go in my freezer to fill my belly at a later date. Just because the lion has a collar doesn’t mean it isn’t wild. Sure it may have been used to seeing people come through & getting all googly eyed watching him strut his stuff. But don’t think for one minute he wouldn’t clamp down on your neck and have you for dinner. It’s his nature & that never goes away. Just ask that guy in Vegas who used to have the show. I think there is more to this story that will come out soon. If hunting on the preserve was illegal & the cat was off the property then he’s fair game. I’m sure this preserve isn’t some little cage. So to act like he was caged up & not free to roam about is wrong. With that said do I think there is a need to hunt lions? Probably not. But for some people that’s what they want to do. And if it’s legal have at it. Africa makes big money off hunting. And it’s up to them if they want to allow it or not.
Umm Darall,
Which part of the story of this Lion being used for research by Oxford University did you not comprehend? I am not sure how many times I can keep repeating myself, this was NOT just an average, wild Lion. Here is a link to an article explaining Cecil’s role in the research program: http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/07/30/oxford-cecil-the-lion.
Additionally, this lion was shot with an arrow, reportedly suffered for over 40 hours, when he was finally killed, he was beheaded and skinned. Please do not confuse this incident with your style of hunting. As I have said, ad nauseam, regardless of my views on hunting, there is big difference between hunting, where one consumes the animal, and trophy hunting purely for sport. This was trophy hunting, pure and simple.
Lion populations are decreasing in the wild and their very survival is critical to keeping the populations of other indigenous species in Africa in balance. Additionally, this dentist’s life was not being threatened by this docile cat who was lured cowardly to his death, so therefore, your argument about it attacking a person, in this instance, is not valid.
Also, animals, just like people, have the right to protect themselves when they feel they are being threatened. If you are encroaching on their domain, that is the chance one takes. How would you feel if a stranger barged into your home unannounced? There really isn’t much difference between animals and people, except that humans have higher intelligence and the ability, supposedly, to make rational choices. Based on the some of the choices I see homo sapiens make, I really wonder how much more evolved we really are as a species.
Dana
I understand the lion had a collar & was being used for research. I totally agree it shouldn’t have been killed. You said in one of your comments above that the lion wasn’t wild. How was it not? Because it had a collar? You can put any animal to sleep and put a collar on it to monitor it’s patterns. They do it all the time for study. Doesn’t mean that it’s going to let you come up and rub it’s belly because you are monitoring it. So that is where my comment about the lion still being a hunter comes in to play. I was just commenting to how you think the lion was not wild. Your comment (The lion was NOT wild, he was protected and being studied by Oxford University for research). Was he protected outside the fence? How was he not wild? The park is over 3 million acres. I would say he was very much wild. If I wanted to go to Africa to hunt a lion, hired a guide to make it happen & a lion steps out with a collar on it’s neck I wouldn’t shoot. But one thing you need to understand is that this guy hired guides to take him hunting. How would he really have known this lion was famous? I sure hadn’t heard of the lion before. The guides tell him the lions legal & the guy shoots it. Now I shoot everything with an arrow. A good placed shot & the animal is down very quickly. If that would have happened in this case would this story have ever seen the light of day? Was the lion off the preserve when it was shot & came back? Still much to be told about this hunt I believe. My dad went on a bow hunting safari in Africa back in 1971. Everything they shot was given to the tribes. These small groups lived out in the middle of nowhere. And I can’t tell you how thankful they were for the meat. You can’t bring it back with you. Now most of these tribes used snares to hunt animals. I can’t tell you how many snares my dad & his guide came across that had animals in them that were just rotting away because the tribe either hadn’t bothered checking them or had moved on and didn’t bother retrieving the snares they had put out before they left the location. They are kind of there own enemy when it comes to animals going extinct. The Rhino & Elephant are facing the same thing. But it’s not because of hunters doing it legally. It’s because of the ones in Africa that are doing it illegally. Which may have been what his guides were up to. My life isn’t threatened by the deer I shoot either. But they sure taste good! If a stranger comes into my home & I’m threatened he’s getting a load from my 12 gauge into his body. There are a lot worse issues going on in the world that are being ignored & a lion kill takes headlines.
Sorry, I don’t agree with anything you have to say, but to each their own.
You may not have heard of this Lion, but most of the guides in the area, rangers, poachers, tourists from other countries, etc. knew who this Lion was, you cannot be so arrogant as to think that just because you never heard of him, he was not well known. There is a whole world outside of the US, you know?
D
You should go over and pet those tame animals…LOL
Whatever…still does not make the situation right.
D
Let’s take a look at a lack of logic below. This is a prime example given to us by Michael B.
“It’s why rights are auctioned off to hunt endangered animals like the Black Rhino. We may have to take drastic, unpopular steps in order to save these animals from complete extinction, and that may include hunting for trophy and/or sport.”
As for Ted, he is a jackass.