Photo: Cecil and his lioness. October 21, 2012.
The Notorious B.I.G. once said, “You’re nobody til somebody kills you,” and his words never fail to find their mark. On July 1, 2015, Cecil the lion was killed by American dentist and big-game hunter Walter Palmer at Hwange National Park in Marabeleland North, Zimbabwe. The killing sparked international media attention and global uproar, as Palmer was not charged with a crime.
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Dead at just 13 years of age, Cecil’s name reveals the imperialist mindset of those he faced in life and death. He was named for Cecil Rhodes, the ruthless Brit who founded Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe and Zambia) in 1895. Both nations became independent in 1965, after nearly a century of subjugation and exploitation that first began under Rhodes, who has been characterized as “an architect of apartheid.”
Cecil taking in the air: This image was taken on the last morning that Brent ever saw Cecil. He and Jericho were interested in something on the other side of the railway line. May 27, 2015.
Cecil and his brother first entered Hwange National Park in 2008. A year later, Cecil’s brother was killed and Cecil was seriously wounded by the leader of an established pride. Cecil retreated to another part of the park, where he established his own pride, with as many as 22 members. As time progressed, Cecil became the best-known animal at Hwange National Park, having become accustomed to people and allowed vehicles as close as 33 feet away. The lions in the park, including Cecil, are being studied by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford University as part of an ongoing project that has run since 1999. Brent Stapelkamp has been a lion researcher on the team for the past ten years, and found himself at the epicenter of the “Cecil Storm” as the last person to collar and photograph Cecil before his death.
Down a lonely trail. June 10, 2015.
A selection of his photographs is on view in Brent Stapelkamp – Hwange: Cecil’s Kingdom at Anastasia Photo, New York, now through June 3, 2016. Stapelkamp’s photographs reveal the power of a single image to create an identity, to give more than a face but a feeling for the living being. In his photographs of Cecil, we observe a lion so perfectly at home. It is a fantastical world, a place that recalls the idea of Eden, where lions are comfortable enough with humans to peacefully co-exist with us.
But not all humans are peaceful; some are pure predators, doing anything within their power to destroy the sanctity of life. Palmer reportedly paid $50K to a professional guide, Theo Bronkorst. Cecil was allegedly lured out of the sanctuary, shot with an arrow, then tracked and killed with a rifle up to 40 hours later. He was skinned and his head was removed. His track collar was missing. While two men in Zimbabwe are being prosecuted for the crime, Palmer is free to visit the country as a tourist, but not as a hunter. In the exhibition, Stapelkamp includes a photograph of the railway line over which Cecil was lured to his death. It is an eerie, somber reminder of the lengths that predators will go to make the kill.
Wasting lives: Cats may be known to have nine lives, but this lioness, Frisky, seemed to be throwing them away. She slept on this track for hours one day seemingly oblivious to the potential danger. Hwange National Park has lost about a dozen lions to this train over the years. October 20, 2014.
All photos: ©Brent Stapelkamp, Courtesy of Anastasia Photo
Miss Rosen is a New York-based writer, curator, and brand strategist. There is nothing she adores so much as photography and books. A small part of her wishes she had a proper library, like in the game of Clue. Then she could blaze and write soliloquies to her in and out of print loves.
