Social media was set ablaze this week when news that a beloved Zimbabwean lion named Cecil had been killed in a hunt with murky legal parameters. The hunter, Walter Palmer, who occupationally practices dentistry in Eden Priarie, Minnesota, has come under a great deal of scrutiny for the hunt. Much of the controversy centers around the allegation that Palmer lured Cecil, a lion with protective status in Zimbabwe's Hwang National Park, out of the park an into an unrestricted area.
Even more concerning for animal rights activists is Cecil's status in an Oxford University study, by which he was outfitted with a GPS collar and reportedly loved by visitors.
Among the outraged individuals is the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger. He had more than one thing to say about it on social media.
#5forBigCats pic.twitter.com/W4EVlQvPEn
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) July 30, 2015
Posted by Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday, July 30, 2015
Don't just retweet. Give what you can. #5forBigCats https://t.co/1XwSdhVMZx — Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) July 30, 2015
Someone asked. Killing a lion isn't ballsy. Going into the octagon or joining the military - that's ballsy. Try that before you kill a lion. — Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) July 29, 2015
Protecting big cats is also ballsy. Stop killing them! I'm in. #5forBigCats Join me: https://t.co/1XwSdhVMZx pic.twitter.com/Z5wNu03opt — Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) July 29, 2015
It is probably advised to stay on The Terminator's good side. Should someone have told Palmer?