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Killing of Cecil the lion ‘barbarous’: Shanmugam

SINGAPORE — Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam has joined the chorus of condemnation over the killing of a well-known lion, named Cecil, in Zimbabwe.

Ms Kristen Hall leads a group of protestors from Animal Rights Coalition and Minnesota Animal Liberation gathered in front of Dr Walter Palmer's dental practice, Wednesday, July 29, 2015, in Bloomington, Minnesota. Photo: Star Tribune via AP

Ms Kristen Hall leads a group of protestors from Animal Rights Coalition and Minnesota Animal Liberation gathered in front of Dr Walter Palmer's dental practice, Wednesday, July 29, 2015, in Bloomington, Minnesota. Photo: Star Tribune via AP

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SINGAPORE — Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam has joined the chorus of condemnation over the killing of a well-known lion, named Cecil, in Zimbabwe.

“I find the circumstances of this killing quite unacceptable, barbarous,” wrote Mr Shanmugam on Facebook yesterday (July 30).

“Cecil was lured out of his safe habitat. Baited out. Shot. Left to suffer. Then beheaded and skinned. And if one wants to truly engage in blood sport, then why use weapons, whether bow and arrow or guns? Does the animal have a chance?” he wrote.

Cecil, which was being studied by researchers at the University of Oxford, is believed to have been lured out of its protected habitat with bait and killed by American dentist and hunter Walter James Palmer. Conservation officials said the lion had been shot with a crossbow and tracked for about two days before it was killed with a gun. After it was beheaded and skinned, its corpse was left to rot.

The killing has sparked outrage with calls for Dr Palmer’s prosecution. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has said it is investigating the circumstances surrounding the lion’s killing but multiple efforts to contact Dr Palmer have been unsuccessful.

“The dentist could perhaps have considered engaging in combat unarmed if he really felt that he wanted to test himself against a lion. That would be some test. Poor Cecil,” wrote Mr Shanmugam.

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