Amongst a deluge of outrage on social media towards Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer — who killed Cecil, one of Africa’s most beloved lions — Victoria’s Secret Angels Behati Prinsloo and Candice Swanepoel have both taken a stand. The African Angels (hailing from Namibia and South Africa, respectively) expressed their disgust towards Palmer on Instagram, who used bait to lure Cecil out of reserve boundaries before wounding him with a bow and arrow, hunting him down for 40 hours, and eventually shooting, beheading and skinning him earlier this month. Palmer allegedly paid $50,000 to take part in this hunt. Famed for his black mane, the 13-year-old star attraction at Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe was part of an Oxford University research project since 1999.
Swanepoel’s post declared: “How dare you #walterpalmer !!!! As a South African and as a human being I can’t express how deeply saddened I am by this, what pleasure do you get out of doing such a thing! Seeing these animals alive in their natural habitat is such a blessing, you have to be so sick to want to kill such a majestic creature of God. You come to Africa with your dollars and euros thinking you can buy power by taking advantage of Africa’s poverty and paying people to help you kill an innocent creature. Disgusting! I hope you get what you deserve #walterpalmer“
While Prinsloo stated: “I can’t even put into words how this is making me feel, Dr. Walter J Palmer from Minnesota stay out of Africa!!!! Seriously breaks my heart. Bored idiots that think trophy hunting in Africa is a sport need to be stopped. How can we still allow people to hunt down these incredible animals. I want my kids to grow up seeing these animals in the wild, NOT on your wall….. #LetsEndThis #CecilTheLion #WalterPalmer #justice#Cecil Africa needs to unite against this.”
No strangers to standing up for their motherland, Behati has expressed her revulsion towards poaching and Candice created a collection with Mother Denim for which the proceeds went to mothers2mothers charity in South Africa. You can sign a petition calling for Zimbabwe to stop issuing hunting permits to kill endangered animals here.