A Tribute to the King of the Jungle and to the King of the Dental Office

I previously wrote about serial animal killer Walter James Palmer, a Minnesota dentist who is accused of a cowardly and atrocious killing, beheading and skinning of a beloved collared lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe, who was allegedly unlawfully baited out of his protected reserve for the kill. By now I assume nearly everyone is familiar with Palmer's alleged bloody history and handiwork, but if not click here to read my prior article.

Kudos to Jimmy Kimmel who paid this befitting tribute to Cecil the Lion and to Walter James Palmer, DDS:

By all accounts, Cecil the Lion was a curious and gentle animal who often approached tourists who loved photographing him. He was truly magnificent -- a calm and confident animal living in peace among his pride. Kills like this are thefts. They steal a beautiful creature from all of us and this planet for no reason other than to satisfy the psychological cravings of the perpetrator. Tonight this beautiful lion will not sleep under the moonlit sky in Zimbabwe with his cubs. His ravaged carcass is all that his killer left us of him. And with Cecil's death, his 12 cubs are at risk of being killed by a rival male from another pride.

Here's some video of Cecil, the gentle King of the Jungle. I cannot help but wonder if he approached his killer with the same curiosity and calm that he exhibited with these tourists photographing him:

Here's Cecil with his pride:

I would not describe Walter James Palmer as magnificent, but rather as malevolent. Nor would I portray him as King of the Jungle. Rather he is the King of the River Bluff Dental Office. He is a 55-year-old balding bespectacled dentist from Minnesota who apparently felt his own life would be better if he could travel to Zimbabwe to allegedly commit this cruel kill. He misjudged that he would be enriched by this; he is now the pariah of social media.

Here's his pride, a promotional videos peddling his cosmetic dentistry. He looks like a happy, warm and kind person, right?

I would like to pay my own respects to dentist Palmer -- this song is for you:

Click here to visit the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford.

And click here for a petition for your consideration.