Larry Wilmore: Cecil the lion killer is 'a--hole'

Add Larry Wilmore to the list of celebrities who are outraged over the death of Cecil the lion. On Wednesday’s The Nightly Show, Wilmore blasted the hunter who killed Cecil, a U.S. dentist named Walter Palmer, calling him “a–hole DDS.”

“Did you say the hunter was a dentist? As if people needed another reason to be scared of them,” Wilmore said. “Four out of five dentists recommend Crest. I guess the fifth was too busy murdering lions to answer the poll.”

Cecil the lion was shot by Palmer with a bow and arrow, after being lured out of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. The big cat was injured in the initial altercation, and later killed with a gun 40 hours later. Cecil the lion was then skinned and decapitated by the hunters.

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

The killing of Cecil the lion became national news this week, with stars such as Ricky Gervais, Jimmy Kimmel and Mia Farrow weighing in on his death. Kimmel dedicated a portion of his Tuesday night show to Cecil the lion, and broke down while asking his audience to support the Wildlife Conservation Research Unite at Oxford, which had studied Cecil. Farrow, meanwhile, was criticized for posting the address of Palmer’s dentist office on Twitter.

•Mia Farrow criticized for tweeting business address of Cecil the lion’s killer

•Jimmy Kimmel gets emotional during monologue on Cecil the lion’s death