Zimbabwe accuses 2nd American of illegal lion hunt

In a press statement-released on the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority’s website-the director-general, Edson Chidziya, stated the authority was working with law enforcement agencies to curb any further breaches of Zimbabwe’s hunting regulations.

A Zimbabwe conservation group has called for the head of Cecil the Lion to be mounted in a case and displayed at Hwange National Park, where he was killed by US dentist Walter Palmer last month.

Zimbabwean authorities have said they will seek Palmer’s extradition, alleging he lacked authorization to kill Cecil.

Online backlash regarding the death of Cecil has garnered such massive global support that the White House announced on Thursday that they would be reviewing a petition to extradite the dentist back to Zimbabwe to face charges.

There were also reports this weekend that Jericho, another male lion in Cecil’s pride, had been killed by hunters.

Palmer, who has said he “deeply regrets” killing Cecil, has not been charged in Zimbabwe. Hunters reportedly lured 13-year-old Cecil out of the park at night and shot him with a bow and arrow.

Jericho, a lion in Zimbabwe, is alive, contrary to an earlier report of his demise. The illegal killing of a lion is punishable by a mandatory fine of $20,000 and up to 10 years behind bars under the country’s laws. Headman Sibanda, a Zimbabwean landowner who runs Nyala Safaris, was arrested and is assisting police with their investigation, according to the Washington Post.

Dr. Jan Seski, of Murrysville, said in a written statement from his lawyer that he had participated in a lawfully permitted hunt. “I hate hunting, I don’t believe in it”, he said.

Last week, Oppah Muchinguri, a government minister from Zimbabwe, told officials that the country was seeking extradition for Palmer “so that he can be held accountable for his illegal action”. Rodrigues said that another lion had been killed, something that CNN can not immediately verify.

The recipient will be the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at the UK’s Oxford University, known as WildCRU, which had been tracking Cecil since 2008.

He said the park put a ban on hunting lions, leopards and elephants shortly before Jericho was shot.

Officials said they are investigating who scrawled graffiti found Tuesday, August 4, on the garage door of his home in the wealthy Gulf Coast community of Marco Island one of Florida’s most exclusive addresses.