It captured the hearts and minds of people around the world, particularly across social media.

Cecil was the public face of Zimbabwe's world-renowned Hwange National Park.

Tragically, Cecil was shot and killed by American dentist Walter Palmer, who paid $50,000 to hunt the endangered creature.

The story of Cecil's demise, however, gets even worse. During the hunt, Mr Palmer used a crossbow to take down Cecil, who took more than 40 hours to die after initially being wounded.

The public outcry against Mr Palmer was, rightfully, immediate and brutal. No creature, great or small, deserves this type of death whether it's a lion, a cheetah or an elephant.

Sadly, Cecil's brutal execution is not an isolated case, nor the exception. More than 100,000 animals - many of them endangered - die each year at the hands of African trophy hunters.

Why? For the prize of mounting their head or horns or tusks on a library or living room wall.

Even our own former cricket star Glenn McGrath bore the brunt of public condemnation after he last year posted photos on social media of an elephant he had shot during one such African hunting trip.

But as terrible as Cecil's story is, his death may not be in vain. There are already calls for Mr Palmer to face prosecution - and so he should. And the wave of public sentiment against this type of cruelty is growing steadily around the world.

Surely in an enlightened, humane society, the days of hunting animals for sport have long gone.

Indian peace activist Mahatma Gandhi once said: "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

Here in Australia we still have a long way to go to reach such lofty heights as those yearned for by Gandhi. Live exports, sow stalls, battery hen farming and, more recently, the exposure of live baiting in the greyhound industry show we are a long way from achieving any such greatness as a nation.

But that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep striving.