When we identify with animals

Issue 7: How Cecil the Lion sparked a cascade of outrage and charity; why people identify with animals; the power of kindness at work; and announcing all 10 chapters in 'The Power of Us'

Robert Palmer eyed the black-maned predator. Ensconced in a hunting blind near Hwange National Park, the Minnesotan dentist and big game hunter lifted his bow and took aim. Moments later, he released an arrow—and unleashed consequences that reverberated around the world.

In the following months, wildlife services would add new species to their lists of endangered animals. Airlines would stop transporting hunters’ trophies. Many thousands of people would write checks, send money orders, and put cash in envelopes to support wildlife research and conservation. Palmer himself would become the target of a deluge of hate mail. “How [can] the person who puts innocent creatures through slow and painful death be trusted with my mouth?” read a Yelp review for his dental practice.

What did Walter Palmer do to produce such an extraordinary chain of events? 

He shot Cecil the Lion.

Cecil the Lion. (Photo by Craig Taylor)

At the time he was killed in 2015, Cecil was the most famous lion in Zimbabwe, a …