If anything good could come from the death of Cecil the lion—slaughtered by Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer last month—Cara Delevingne‘s show of support for wildlife conservation, by auctioning off a piece of her own DNA inherently laden on her very own Tag Heuer watch, might just be it.
Hunting in Zimbabwe, Palmer reportedly lured Cecil “out of a national park with food, shot with a crossbow, tracked for 40 more hours, then finished off with a gun,” late last month, spurring an online shame campaign of gargantuan proportions: Yelp reviews obliterated the integrity of Palmer’s dental practice, PETA took it next lev and put a bounty on his head, protesters have swarmed his office, vandals have tagged ‘LION KILLER‘ on his own home, and op-eds have crucified his very existence for days.
Overnight, Cara Delevingne posted on instagram, announcing the auction of her own watch – with proceeds going towards research at WildCRU.org, aiding conservation of wild lions like Cecil in Africa.
“The killing of Cecil the Lion was a tragedy. Today JOIN ME to help the scientists who care about the future of wild lions in Africa and work very hard on their conservation. Ahead of the official sale of my TAG Heuer Signature Edition watch, I decided to auction my personal timepiece at the link above or go on eBay.
I wore this watch on several occasions and during the last Monaco Grand Prix. The full amount will be refunded to WildCRU.org, the research unit that followed Cecil for many years. SO LETS JOIN FORCES!”
With the auction only being live for a few hours today, a bidding war has already begun – with more than 4 days of auction time remaining. The current price closely rivals the timepiece’s RRP – starting at around AU$6000. At this point, it’s nothing but savvy shopping.
Those interested in owning a ~piece~ of Cara and helping out a great cause can place their bids over here, or find out more about wildlife conservation over here.
Meanwhile, Aaron Blaise, who played a part in illustrating your childhood with his work on The Lion King, has created a tribute to Cecil in this sweet digital rendering. :’)
