[Polecat]

>People form stronger bonds with animals that aren't edible.

True, but not with animals they have only seen picture of.

>On top of that, lions are regarded as noble animals, and this particular lion was killed in a dishonorable way, AND suffered for over 40 hours.

Dishonorable because it was a human who did it? Nature doesn't care about honor, really.

[enraged_camel]

No, dishonorable because the guy lured the lion out of the zoo with a piece of meat, then shot it with an arrow from his Jeep. Then the animal bled for 40 hours before they finally caught up to it and killed it. Then he bragged about how he's an amazing hunter.