It's a shame about the lion. How many people have been killed since the lion died. More than zero? Oh, then why isn't there a thread for each person who died? As an American, your existence necessitates the killing of a hundred animals a day. You have the largest carbon footprint by magnitudes of 10's--and that's not just because you eat so much more than everyone else. If you truly love animals, endangered or university-studied, move to a less-developed country. You'll save a million animals a year.
Hunting for food is completely different to trophy hunting and poaching. A hunter kills their prey as quickly and as efficiently as possible, to feed their family - via the meat of the animal itself or with the money they are paid for the body. For them, it is a job that has to be done. They may enjoy the thrill of the hunt and the act of shooting, but they never make the animals suffer unnecessarily.
A trophy hunter, on the other hand - kills purely for fun. They are amateurs. They are the same wealthy Americans (or any other first-world nationality), that have the huge carbon footprint you mentioned. They pay thousands of dollars to kill (often endangered) creatures, often inefficiently, prolonging the animals suffering - purely for 'glory' and bragging rights. A hunter wouldn't shoot a lion with a crossbow. A hunter wouldn't waste their time or energy, tracking a wounded animal for forty hours - only for a gun to deliver the killing blow. They would have simply used a gun in the first place.
I'm not a hypocrite. I eat meat, which requires the death of an animal. I can't condemn all hunting. However, I can condemn this form of hunting - without any hesitation. This was an endangered animal, which was illegally poached and made to suffer for forty hours - just to satisfy the ego of a wealthy tourist. This lion wasn't killed because the hunters were starving - he was killed purely for profit and pleasure. If you don't care about the killing of Cecil, that's your business - but don't pretend this is comparable to standard hunting/farming/living practices. The average person living in a developed country, doesn't intentionally harm any creature - especially not in such a cruel way. What happened in the case of Cecil was as cruel and criminal as someone shooting your pet dog, leaving him bleeding and whining for hours - then killing him. Just for fun. You're doing yourself, Cecil and real hunters an injustice by suggesting otherwise.
I'll never understand why people get so defensive, when topics like this are discussed. Yes, the world has a lot of problems. This is just one of many, that people are complaining about. No-one has stopped complaining about homophobia, racism or women's rights. Political, religious, economic and environmental debates are still happening. The world still cares about massacres, terrorism and police shootings. Despite our innate selfishness, greed and capacity for evil throughout human history - good has always triumphed. What separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom, is our unwavering empathy and respect for all living things. Even in primitive times, people worshipped trees etc. Why shouldn't we also complain about the death of a lion? Tomorrow, starving children will be the main headline. The day after that, terrorism will be the main topic of conversation. All of these horrors, big or small - deserve their moment of limelight. They all deserve attention, even though I sometimes disagree with the way the attention is given.
Frankly, I don't like the way many people have responded to Cecil's death. As Joll mentioned earlier in the thread, although punishment is deserved - we shouldn't crucify this man. However, some people are going out of their way to ruin his life. It's a problem that social media has had, for a while. Traditional media still has a lot of power, but the social media power of Twitter, Facebook and all similar sites - is truly scary. It breeds a skewed sense of what justice actually is.
Before and after the UK election, I noticed a strong sense of mob-justice. The abuse that was directed at politicians before the election was bad enough, but after the election - it became ridiculous. Everywhere I looked, there was poison written. Soon, it had spawned enough irrational anger - that people decided it would be a sensible idea to protest the victory of the democratically elected government. I was disappointed by the election result, but demanding that a government (which the majority of the public voted for) should step down - was absurd. That's just one example of social media giving people the false-confidence to enforce their personal point of view on everyone else. I've seen people wishing incredibly horrible deaths for hunters, because of Cecil the lion. As far as I'm concerned, you shouldn't talk about the importance of compassion for animals - then talk about torturing a human. It's hypocritical.
I understand the frustration, when people try to force their ideology onto others. Anyone suggesting that a murdered lion is more important than a murdered human, is wrong. However, you just have to ignore those hypocritical extremists. Even if you're pro-hunting, the killing of Cecil was objectively wrong - for the reasons I've already given. It's indefensible and people should be talking about it. Don't let the facts of an important discussion, be obscured by your personal biases or the ramblings of extremists on television and social media.