Cecil the Lion & WRATH:
CWI's Fight Against Trophy Hunting
How CompassionWorks International helped turn grief for one lion into years of public action—and why the work continues.
Cecil’s killing in 2015 brought worldwide attention to an uncomfortable reality: wild animals could be tracked, studied, admired, and still be killed for trophies.
For CompassionWorks International, that moment helped spark the Worldwide Rally for Cecil, later renamed the Worldwide Rally Against Trophy Hunting—WRATH. Through demonstrations, public education, billboards, and collaboration across cities and countries, the campaign challenged the treatment of living animals as prizes.
While WRATH is not currently an active annual event, its history remains an important part of CWI’s continuing opposition to trophy hunting. We invite anyone interested in protesting trophy hunting to contact us for support with setting up a demonstration.
CECIL THE LION:
The murder felt around the world
In July 2015, American trophy hunter Walter Palmer killed Cecil, a male lion associated with Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park. Cecil was recognizable by his dark mane and the fact that he wore a research collar used by Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, known as WildCRU. Cecil was accustomed to humans and comfortable around safari vehicles, which led to his local celebrity.
The hunt took place outside the park. Cecil was wounded with an arrow and, after what must have been immense suffering, was killed hours afterward.
Cecil’s story made a forgotten about practice personal. Photographs and accounts of his life connected audiences around the world with an identifiable animal, while his research collar raised questions about the protection of wildlife moving beyond park boundaries. Public anger grew to a fever pitch, bringing renewed scrutiny to hunters, hunting businesses, trophy imports, and the companies transporting animal remains.
Tragically, the legal aftermath did not produce the outcome many advocates sought. In October 2015, Zimbabwe’s government announced that Palmer would not face charges, saying his paperwork was in order. Charges against professional hunting guide Theo Bronkhorst were subsequently quashed in November 2016. These despicable outcomes continue to drive a quest for change in trophy hunting practices worldwide.
There were significant policy developments during this period. Major U.S. airlines announced restrictions on carrying certain hunting trophies in August 2015. That December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized endangered or threatened protections for two lion subspecies, effective January 22, 2016, with additional trophy-import permitting requirements.
Cecil’s legacy also included support for research and coexistence. Oxford reported that the public response raised more than £750,000 for its lion programme, supporting research, community projects, and training. WildCRU’s later 2015–2025 report documents a decade of work addressing multiple threats to lions.
Despite the furor surrounding Cecil's death, trophy hunting continues. Cecil’s son Xanda was killed by a trophy hunter in 2017. In 2025, the killing of another research-collared lion, Blondie, near Hwange again attracted international attention.
A decade after Cecil, the conflict between permitted hunting and the protection of individual animals remained unresolved. As long as trophy hunting exists, no animal is safe.
Palmer offered a weak apology to his patients in an effort to keep his dental practice alive. He was apparently sorry that he killed a known lion, not that he flew to Africa to murder wildlife for a cheap thrill. Disgustingly, this man still practices dentistry.
The Rally For Cecil
CWI’s involvement began before Cecil became a household name.
In February 2015, CWI launched a petition asking Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to stop hosting Safari Club International’s annual convention. CWI challenged the venue’s association with an event built around the murder of innocent animals, including opportunities to purchase hunts.
Cecil’s death later that year gave this existing campaign a new focus and urgency. By September 2015, CWI was recruiting and coordinating organizers for a Worldwide Rally for Cecil, timed to coincide with SCI’s next convention.
The first coordinated worldwide rally took place on February 6, 2016, alongside several days of CWI protests in Las Vegas. Many got involved: the first Rally featured 35 locations across six countries and the participation of hundreds of individuals ready for change.
The campaign’s purpose extended beyond remembering Cecil. CWI sought to explain trophy hunting to the public, challenge its acceptance as entertainment, and build support for stronger protections and restrictions on trophy imports. Local organizers brought those questions into public spaces where people could learn, talk, and participate.
The main rally at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. 2016
WRATH Emerges
The second Worldwide Rally for Cecil took place on February 4, 2017, with events in 40 cities across ten countries. By then, the campaign had clearly grown beyond memorializing one lion. After the 2017 event, CWI renamed it the Worldwide Rally Against Trophy Hunting — WRATH to reflect a broader opposition to the killing of wild animals for trophies. Under the new name, organizers continued holding demonstrations in the U.S. and abroad, while CWI followed Safari Club International’s convention from Las Vegas to Reno and later Nashville. Mobile billboards, local protests, and solidarity events helped carry the message well beyond any single gathering.
WRATH also developed a strong international life of its own, particularly in the United Kingdom. Jen Nolan organized repeated actions in Birmingham, Liverpool, and London, helping keep the campaign active even as in-person advocacy became more difficult after the pandemic. In June 2025, Birmingham’s WRATH March for Wildlife marked the tenth anniversary of Cecil’s killing, bringing the campaign back to the lion whose death had helped transform CWI’s existing trophy-hunting advocacy into a worldwide movement.
WRATH in Birmingham, England.
We continue to speak out. Get involved!
CWI’s position begins with the individual animal. We oppose killing wildlife for recreation, status, or the display of body parts. An animal’s life should not depend on whether people recognize that animal’s name, value a photograph, or have fitted a research collar.
Some conservation organizations argue that well-managed trophy hunting can support habitat protection and local livelihoods. CWI rejects recreational killing as an acceptable goal, while recognizing the need to address practical issues like human/wildlife conflict directly.
Our advocacy calls for stronger wildlife protections alongside credible, lasting support for nonlethal livelihoods, habitat conservation, and human–wildlife coexistence. People living alongside wildlife deserve a meaningful role in decisions and resources to address the costs they bear. However, we must not undermine the autonomy of animals solely due to the wishes of humans.
CWI continues to speak out against Safari Club International at their annual convention, which presently takes place in Nashville each winter. We also encourage individuals to protest the regional Safari Club International chapter events. You can find a list detailing where and when they will take place here.
To stay up-to-date on CWI's latest efforts to fight trophy hunting, please sign up for our e-newsletter.
To learn more about trophy hunting, visit our dedicated informational page. There, you can also find downloadable posters and leaflets that you may use in your own demonstrations. CWI has some posters and leaflets already printed and in stock. For additional support, please contact us.
