Lee Stoops, a local artist meticulously sculpted 10-foot-long and 4-feet tall sand lion in memory of ‘Cecil the lion’ around the shorelines of Delray Beach. The 13-year-old beloved lion has been the subject of national news coverage after it was hunted and killed by an American dentist, Walter James Palmer.
“It really struck a cord with me,” Stoops said. “We were just trying to reflect on what happened so it doesn’t happen again.” The sculpture is almost double the size of Cecil with bright green eyes made from tennis balls, Stoops added. Stoops completed the project with the help of his 5 and 6 year-old grandsons Casey and Cale, who were visiting from Alaska. He hoped that the memorial for Cecil sparks a conversation between parents and their children about the illegal hunting problem plaguing the world.
“We have to keep the topic alive and keep people talking about it,” He added.
“We have to keep the topic alive and keep people talking about it,” He added.
The Zimbabwean government called for 55-year-old Palmer”s extradition from the United States Friday morning, according to the Associated Press.
