In which contexts can humans become ‘super-cooperators’ and overcome self-interest to act for the common good? The Oxford Martin Programme on Natural Governance, is a new research initiative set up to study this issue.

Reactions to the death of Cecil the lion, and the extraordinary outpouring of support provide a unique opportunity for analysing what motivates opinion and forges cohesion, and all that this implies about environmental politics.

Here, programme directors Dominic Johnson, David Macdonald and Harvey Whitehouse look at what the reaction to Cecil's death can tell us about human co-operation.