CECIL THE LION DIED A YEAR AGO. WHAT CHANGE HAPPENED? (സെസില് സിംഹത്തിന്റെ മരണശേഷം പേരക്കുട്ടികൾക്കെന്തു സംഭവിച്ചു?.)).

CECIL THE LION DIED A YEAR AGO.

 WHAT CHANGE HAPPENED?

സെസില് സിംഹത്തിന്റെ മരണശേഷം പേരക്കുട്ടികൾക്കെന്തു സംഭവിച്ചു?.

July 1 marks the anniversary of the death of Cecil the lion. In 2015, American dentist Walter Palmer paid more than $55,000 to lure the internationally famous lion out of Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park and killed him, sparking international outrage and re-igniting debate on the ethics of so-called “trophy hunting.” Some people criticized the public’s — and the media’s — intense focus on Cecil, pointing out it seems silly to be disproportionately angry over one lion when so many other lions, other animals, and human beings are suffering or in danger.

While those criticisms are valid, that intensely-focused outrage has ultimately contributed to changes that have effects far beyond just Cecil himself. About a month after Cecil’s death, Delta announced that they would not ship the carcasses of lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and buffalo. By the end of August 2015, 42 airlines had instituted similar bans, including major companies like Virgin and Jet Blue. This, of course, is a major hit to trophy hunters, whose options for transporting their kills are dwindling.

In December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service formally listed one subspecies of African lion as “endangered” and another as “threatened.” Though there’s no hard evidence that they did so in response to the controversy of Cecil’s killing, the incident drew a great deal of public attention to the plight of lions.

There was some confusion over the designation, since the scientific names the USFW cited as endangered and threatened are listed as “extinct in the wild” by sites like Wikipedia. However, the agency said that their listing is based on taxonomic updates that change how the different subspecies are named. Theyclarified in December that their listing means all African lions are designated as either “endangered” or “threatened.”

And the listing is more than just a semantic distinction. It means tighter regulations on permits for hunting lions abroad and stricter regulations for importing “lion products.” For example, lion carcass “trophies” must come from countries with sustainable, managed lion populations, according to National Geographic. It also increases potential funding for people doing conservation work.

Cecil’s brother, Jericho, took over command of his pride, and Cecil’s seven cubs and three female mates were alive and well as of May. And some conservationists argue that Cecil’s death ultimately paved the way for a better future for his cubs — and all lions — by bringing big cat conservation to the forefront of people’s minds.“The death of this lion, it was really tragic, but it brought some good,” Zimbabwean researcher Liomba-Junior Mathe told The Guardian. “There was a world cry for this lion and also for conservation.”Cecil brought the debate around the ethics of trophy hunting in Africa front and center, but not a lot has been definitively resolved.  Some argue that trophy hunters — who pay big bucks to kill big game — provide financial motivation for countries to keep species alive and leave land set aside for those animals to live. Numerous animal advocates say that model just doesn’t work, pointing to data that populations of species like lions are still falling and note that too many hunters and guides flout the laws that are supposed to ensure the hunts are sustainable.

But even experts ultimately opposed to trophy hunting still say that for the practice to end, there needs to be a viable alternative that will benefit both animals and the local people. If trophy hunting disappears, local people will still need other financial motivations to leave habitats wild.“If society decides it doesn’t want trophy hunting of lions, there needs to be a journey, not a jump, to replace the incentive to protect those lions,” David Macdonald director of Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, told The Guardian.

Zimbabwe opted not to charge Palmer because he had the legal papers to conduct the hunt. However, two locals face criminal charges for luring Cecil out of the national park, which is a protected area. Palmer announced in September he was returning to work as a dentist and that his patients missed him. His Yelp reviews continue to suffer.It still takes an individual tragedy to make people care about bigger issues

തവിട്ടും കറുപ്പും ഇടകലര്ന്ന സടയുമായി സഞ്ചാരികള ആകര്ഷിച്ചിരുന്ന സെസില് എന്ന ആഫ്രിക്കന് സിംഹം കൊല്ലപ്പെട്ടത് 2015 ജൂണിലാണ്. സെസിലിനെ വെടിവച്ചു കൊന്ന അമേരിക്കന് ദന്തഡോക്ടര്ക്ക് പ്രതിഷേധം സഹിക്കാൻ വയ്യാതെ വീടുപേക്ഷിച്ചു പോകേണ്ടിവന്നു എന്നത് പിന്നീടുള്ള കഥ. മൂന്ന് ഭാര്യമാരും 12 കുട്ടികളും 15 പേരക്കുട്ടികളും ഉള്ള സെസിലിന്റെ കുടുംബത്തിന് പിന്നീടെന്തു സംഭവിച്ചു .

സെസിലിന് ഉണ്ടായിരുന്ന ലോകമെമ്പാടുമുള്ള ആരാധകരും മൃഗസ്നേഹികളും കൈകോര്ത്തതോടെ സെസിലന്റെ കുടുംബം ഇന്ന് അതീവ സുരക്ഷിതരാണ്. വിദേശ സഹായം ഒഴുകിയെത്തിയതോടെ സെസില് വസിച്ചിരുന്ന ഹ്വാംഗെ ദേശീയ പാര്ക്കിൽ സൗകര്യങ്ങള് ഏറെ വര്ദ്ധിപ്പിച്ചു. സുരക്ഷാ സൈനികരുടെ എണ്ണം കൂട്ടി. ക്യാമറകള് സ്ഥാപിച്ചു. പാര്ക്കിലേക്കുള്ള പ്രവേശനത്തിനു കര്ശന നിയന്ത്രണം ഏര്പ്പെടുത്തി. ഇതിനെല്ലാം പുറമെ പല ആഫ്രിക്കന് രാജ്യങ്ങളിലും നിയമ വിധേയമായിരുന്ന സിംഹവേട്ട നിരോധിക്കാന് പ്രചോദനമായതും സെസിലിന്റെ മരണമാണ്. എന്തായാലും സെസിലിന്റെ കുടുംബത്തിനു ധൈര്യമായി ഇനി പാർക്കിലൂടെ നടക്കാം. ആരും വേട്ടയാടാൻ വരില്ലല്ലോ? 

Prof. John Kurakar