Nearly three in four Americans also believe it is 'never acceptable' to hunt a lion
Killing Cecil the lion was wrong according to most Americans – and 62% in the latest YouGov Poll would extradite the Minnesota dentist who shot Cecil to Zimbabwe if authorities there charge him with a crime.
It is not just this particular shooting that has affected Americans. For 72% of all adults – and nearly two-thirds of those who ever hunted (most of whom personally have experienced killing an animal), hunting lions is never acceptable.
Americans make a distinction when it comes to hunting. Even though half the public has a negative view of hunting (most of those have never personally done it), majorities accept the hunting of some animals at least some of the time. These are mostly domestic animals, like deer, moose, rabbits and bears. Shooting another domestic animal, the buffalo, divides the public almost evenly. But as for the shooting of more exotic species like tigers, elephants, zebras, rhinos and lions, some of which are endangered, the consensus is those killings are never acceptable.
Cecil’s death bothered many Americans, hunters and non-hunters alike. Most hunters said they were at least somewhat upset about the shooting of Cecil.
Who are America's hunters?
Hunters and non-hunters have different views about what hunting is. Two-thirds of hunters view it as a sport, while nearly as many non-hunters say it is not. And while hunters see the activity positively, non-hunters disagree.
There are big differences between those who have hunted and those who have not. One difference in residential. Hunters are twice as likely to live in rural areas as non-hunters; non-hunters are more likely to reside in cities and suburbs than hunters are. There are regional differences, too. The Midwest has the largest share of those who have hunted.
Men are more than twice as likely as women to say they have hunted. 40% of men have hunted, compared with just 15% of women. The urban-rural difference is mirrored in the party differences, with 36% of Republicans saying they have hunted, compared with only 20% of Democrats. And the older you are, the more likely you have hunted. More than a third of those 45 and older have hunted, compared with just 11% of adults under 30.
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Part 1: Poll results can be found here and topline results and margin of error here.
Part 2: Poll results can be found here and topline results and margin of error here.
