Cecil the lion app to raise money for World Wildlife Fund

An Alberta dentist troubled by the killing of Cecil the lion last summer in Zimbabwe has created a smartphone app that raises funds for wildlife protection.

Dwayne Hinz fromCochrane, which is located just west of Calgary,has developed an all-ages game where the objective is to save Cecil from poachers.

Hinz,who develops apps as a hobby mainly for his four-year-old son Lukas,was trying to come up with a new idea when heheard about the Julydeath of Cecil in Hwange National Park.

"It just all came together and I thought that would be a great idea for a game."

Coincidentally, the trophy hunter who killed Cecil was also a dentist, butHinz says he tried not to focus on that.

"I'm not going to say there are no connections, but sometimes it's turning something positive out of these things.I'm not an activist."

'Use the money where it would help the most'

Rather, Hinz was motivated by his son's love of lions and wanted to have a happy ending for a negative story.

He decided to approach the World Wildlife Fund to discuss the idea of raising money with the game.

"My first thoughts were helping just lions. But after talking to the people at the WWF, I realized I know nothing about conservation. They are the experts and could use the money where it would help the most."

Plenty of games were created in the wake of the 13-year-old male African lion's death, but mostof them feature violentlyavenging Cecil's death and havetitles such as Angry Cecil: A Lion's Revenge, or Cecil's Revenge: Lion Rampage.

Hinz's game features Cecil running through the jungle, jumping over porcupines and crocodiles, so he can get back to the national park.

"You're saving animals in the virtual world, but you're doing something in the real world,"Hinzsaid.