Cecil the Lion Shooting Drives Conservation Donations

Public outrage about the killing of a lion named Cecil on the outskirts of a protected park in Zimbabwe late last month has driven more than £550,000, or about $858,000, to the Oxford University-based Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, officials there said Tuesday.

Nearly 12,000 people have contributed, including American philanthropists and conservationists Tom and Daphne Kaplan, who pledged to match donations up to $100,000. The new total eclipses the original £500,000 fundraising goal for the Cecil Appeal, as the fundraising work was named.

David Macdonald, director of the conservation unit, said in statement that he and his colleagues hoped to keep up the momentum.