海角大神

Animal welfare advocates have described Cecil the Lion, who was killed by a Minnesota dentist in July, as a聽聽of Zimbabwe.听But voices from actual Zimbabweans have begun to suggest that perhaps the lion wasn鈥檛 quite the聽聽the international press has characterized the animal to be. 聽

鈥淚 don鈥檛 share your priorities and I鈥檓 afraid I won鈥檛 be able to help,鈥� said Trevor Ncube, in a with CNN鈥檚 Emily Smith when asked for an interview about the potential poaching incident. 鈥淚 have nothing to say about Cecil the Lion. Lots to say about Zim[babwe鈥檚] economic situation鈥� added the chairman of Alpha Media Holdings, the 聽in Zimbabwe.

While conservationists have voiced outrage, and even sparked a to extradite Walter James Palmer, who killed the animal in a hunting trip in July, is it possible that the media attention given to Cecil has cumulatively misrepresented the importance of the lion, as a supposed

鈥� we will not package our lives to please their audience,鈥� 聽聽on August 1 in response to the media attention given to Cecil鈥檚 death. Numerous replies in the conversation from Zimbabweans questioned when the lions (Cecil and his brother Jericho) even started having names.

"I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt. I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt,鈥� . 鈥淎gain, I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion."

鈥淭he coverage of Cecil the lion鈥檚 story in the Western media is too removed from the lived realities of most Zimbabweans鈥� wrote Alex Magaisa, a聽former advisor to former Prime Minister聽Morgan Tsvangirai,聽in an聽opinion article for Al Jazeera America聽titled "?" According to Mr. Magaisa, while the animal has been characterized as a 鈥榥ational symbol of pride鈥� for Zimbabweans, none of his local friends had heard of the animal, and the death of the lion was hardly representative of overall national concerns.

鈥淶imbabwe is going through serious economic challenges. Most people have pressing needs 鈥� food, shelter and employment,鈥� wrote Magaisa, 鈥淪o forgive us ordinary Zimbabweans if our attention appears not so focused on Cecil.鈥�

Given the current economic circumstances of the African nation, 鈥淐ecil may have been famous only among a small segment of our society, a privileged group that had a stake 鈥� either as vendors or consumers 鈥� in the lucrative tourism sector and the hunting industry,鈥� Magaisa wrote. Zimbabwe makes an estimated , which represents 3.2 percent of its tourism revenue. However as a whole, the country has suffered from slow economic growth 鈥� 95 percent of the working population is employed informally,聽according to a .

While hunting may not be the chief focus of the average Zimbabwean, in the past century, the lion population in Africa as a whole has shrunk by 82 percent. Currently, there are 500 to 1,680 lions in Zimbabwe, with the vast majority of the animals living in protected areas, according to . However, the greatest threats to the lion population are habitat destruction, declining prey populations, poachers, and local villagers killing the animals rather than trophy hunters, reports .听