LONDON (AP) — A pair of U.S. philanthropists with a passion for wild cats have pledged to match new donations to Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Unit ”“ the researchers who were tracking the movements of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe.
Tom Kaplan, a natural resource investor whose net worth was put by Forbes magazine at $1 billion, and his wife Daphne, say they’ll match donations made after 3 p.m. London time Friday up to the value of $100,000.
The pledge comes hours after Zimbabwe said it would seek to extradite an American dentist who lured the lion out of a national park and killed him.
The death of Cecil, well-known resident of Hwange National Park, touched off international outrage and debate on how to safeguard the dwindling number of big cats.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less