Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel became quite emotional during a monologue about Cecil the lion's killing by American dentist Walter Palmer in Zimbabwe in July.
The supposed illegal hunt has since gained public interest and even prompted protesters to gather outside his office in Minnesota. The US Fish and Wildlife has since started investigations on the issue.
Meanwhile, Kimmel publicly bashed Palmer during his rant before asking viewers to donate to the Oxford Wildlife Conservation Unit or WildCRU, the group that was monitoring the slain lion. According to the site, they have since received $470,000 since Cecil the lion's killing.
Forbes further reported that billionare Tom Kaplan and his wife, Daphne, have pledged to match donations made to the wildlife research group up to $100,000.
The study on the beloved lion was actually being done in partnership with Kaplan's charity, Panthera, which was established in 2006 to "help protect the world's largest and most endangered cats including tigers, lions, jaguars and snow leopards."
"For us, Cecil was like part of the family, so we don't take this lightly," Kaplan's statement to the WildCRU website said. "Cecil became a symbol while he was alive, but in death, he may very well have become the iconic representation of the precarious plight of his species."
Kaplan further shared that lions are actually "one of those animals that people will be shocked to find out is endangered."
Meanwhile, WildCRU director David MacDonald also praised Jimmy Kimmel's concern over Cecil the lion's killing, Forbes further reported.
"Today, as the donations have been streaming in, which will allow us to do more and better scientific conservation work, Tom and Daphne Kaplan have made a wonderful gesture to further catalyze the gesture made by Jimmy Kimmel," MacDonald said.
According to the director, Kimmel and Kaplan "may have had the biggest impact on lion conservation of anyone in the entertainment world."
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe already contacted the United Nations to assist them in extraditing Walter Palmer to answer for the case filed against for Cecil the lion's killing.
