Watch Joanna Lumley's impassioned plea for Cecil the lion: 'This lion had a right to live'



Joanna was very passionate about the topic as she sat on the This Morning sofa



Joanna Lumley, whose never been one to take these things lying down, has now made an impassioned plea encouraging those who share her frustration to take action.

The legendary starlet, who has just returned to the UK fresh from her Transiberian adventures, told This Morning hosts Eamonn Holmes Ruth Langsford it's time to take a stance.

"It’s so shocking, and [has] shocked, quite rightly, everybody in the world," she said of the beautiful Zimbabwean lion who was brutally butchered for sport by a Minnesotan dentist.

"What it also has brought a focus on, is how many wild animals we do continue to kill for fun…

 

Cecil wasn't the first rare animal to fall at the hands of Walter



Cecil wasn't the first rare animal to fall at the hands of Walter

"Only these are ivory hunters, people who take rhino horns, elephant tusks, people who kill animals for their skins... it’s absolutely horrifying, and those of us that love animals - which most of the world pretends to or says they do - must understand that unless we do something to stop it, these animals are going to die forever.”

She added: “Now people have kindly said that they want their grandchildren to know there are wild elephants, but what about the elephants themselves? They have a right to live. This lion had a right to live.

"The idea of anybody… I want to get into the head of somebody who has an animal put in front of it so that it can kill it, I can’t see what part of that has any part of a human brain…
 so that man is now condemned, sadly.”

And rather than thousands flooding their Twitter pages with impassioned frustration, the 69-year-old stunner had a stern message for viewers: “We have to be strong.

 

"It’s no use saying ‘I’m so sad about it’... Join up. Let us join up and get the enraged world and let’s stop it happening.”

Cecil The Lion's death has quite literally stunned the globe.

Last night comedian Jimmy Kimmel gave an uncharacteristically heartfelt speech condemning his fellow American Walter Palmer, labelling him "the most hated man in America".

Dozens of stars have condemned the dentist including Cara Delevingne who called him a "poor excuse of a human being" and Ricky Gervais who described the whole travesty as "mental".

 

In statement, Walter Palmer said: "In early July, I was in Zimbabwe on a bow hunting trip for big game. I hired several professional guides and they secured all proper permits.

"To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted.

"I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favourite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt. I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt.”