Cecil: The Lion And The Dentist review: This heartbreaking documentary proves the global trophy hunting backlash achieved NOTHING - and will fill you with blind rage

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Cecil: The Lion And The Dentist

Channel 4

Rating:

Eleven years have passed since the world was gripped and appalled at the killing of Cecil the African lion by an American trophy hunter.

Thought to be the world’s biggest lion at the time, Cecil, with his unusual black mane, was the star of the show at the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.

Tourists visited ­hoping to catch a glimpse of this magnificent creature. As safari photographer Sharon Stead says, ‘He was a poser. He liked to strut his stuff and knew how beautiful he was.’

11 years ago, the world was appalled by the killing of Cecil the Lion by an American trophy hunter

A new Channel 4 documentary, Cecil: The Lion And The Dentist, offers both sides of the divisive story

Crossbow-hunting specialist Dr Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota in the US, had been set to add an African lion to his collection

The only problem was that some tourists didn’t just want to marvel at Cecil in his natural habitat, they wanted to kill him.

These wealthy, foreign trophy hunters were willing to pay anything up to £70,000 to fulfil their sadistic ambitions.

Cecil was protected in the National Park, but if he strayed too far in the wrong direction, onto common land, he became fair game and that’s exactly how he met his end.

This thorough and revealing documentary details the disturbing killing of Cecil by Dr Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota in the US. A crossbow-hunting specialist, Palmer had already shot all 29 of the big-game species that make up the so-called ‘North American 29’, including the illegal killing of a black bear, and was set on adding an African lion to his collection.

The reason we know so much about Cecil is that he was being tracked by conservationist Brent Stapelkamp as part of an Oxford University study into threats facing the lion population.

This documentary offers both sides of a very divisive story.

Theo Bronkhorst, the professional hunter who guided Dr Palmer, argues that trophy hunting brings thousands into the economy. Stapelkamp insists none of the vast sums reach impoverished locals, and instead go ‘straight into Swiss bank accounts’.

Arthur Cary directs the two-hour documentary, exploring both the build up to and aftermath of Cecil's killing

When Sharon Stead heard of Cecil’s death, she worked with a local journalist to identify his killer and expose him to the world, an action she believes led to her camp being deliberately set on fire.

So for a brief spell in 2015 Palmer became world famous and a victim of ‘cancel culture’ before the phrase was even coined. ‘It was the classic villain story, everyone hates dentists,’ says Stapelkamp.

Directed by Arthur Cary, the two-hour programme is utterly captivating and heartbreaking as it delves into the build-up to Cecil’s slaying and the fallout that followed.

Did the worldwide outrage at Cecil’s death result in a change? Hardly.

We hear hundreds of African lions have since been killed by trophy hunters, including Cecil’s son Xanda.

As for the dastardly dentist, although he declined to appear, we learn that he’s still trophy hunting with his crossbow.

That the film, all these years on, can make the viewer feel the same blind fury at the futility of Cecil’s death is quite something.