According to the Panthera Cooperation, nearly a century ago, there were about 200,000 lions living wild in Africa. Today, there are less than 30,000 living in the wild recorded from recent studies.

One of the lions that has recently been one of the many to die, or been killed off, was Africa’s beloved — Cecil the lion.

Cecil  was a male southwest African lion who primarily lived in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe and was 13 years old when killed.

July 1, 2015, 55 year old dentist Walter Palmer killed Cecil the lion on an African safari hunt with two of his friends.

He first shot Cecil with a bow and arrow, injuring him and putting him in a painful state, then proceeding by skinning, decapitating, and shooting him all in a span of the next 40 hours until he was dead.

The leaders of Zimbabwe are disgusted with what has occurred, and insist on questioning Palmer if and when he returns to their country.

Palmer returned to work on September 22,  walking silently into his private dental business, according to CNN news.

Palmer broke his silence Sunday, telling the Associated Press in an interview, “I’m a health professional. I need to get back to treating my patients. My staff and my patients support me, and they want me back. That’s why I’m back.”

He has been verbally, physically, and electronically tormented since returning to the U.S., and reports that even his wife and daughter are being harassed as well.