Zimbabwe suspends lion hunting after ‘Cecil the Lion’ outcry

Conflicting reports are coming in about whether or not Jericho, possibly the brother of the recently killed Cecil the lion, had also been slain by a hunter today (Aug. 1) in Zimbabwe.

“It is with great sadness and regret that we report that Jericho was shot dead at 4 p.m. this afternoon”, Johnny Rodrigues, chairman for the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, told Us in a statement.

“Jericho is a very experienced male”, Oxford researcher Brent Stapelkamp told the Telegraph earlier this week.

According to Reuters, Zimbabwe’s parks authority imposed an indefinite ban on big game hunting outside Hwange National Park.

The second American was involved in an illegal hunt of a lion in April around Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, said the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority in a statement. A petition to the White House to extradite his killer, Minnesota dentist Walter James Palmer, to Zimbabwe for prosecution has surpassed the 100,000 needed to get a U.S. government response.

Palmer paid $55,000 to shoot Cecil outside Hwange park earlier this month with a bow and arrow. Media reports cited authorities as saying they would confirm if Jericho was still alive on Sunday.

The “brother” of Cecil the lion, Jericho, has been confirmed alive and well a day after it was reported that he too had been killed by poachers. Stapelkamp works for the Hwange Lion Research Project, which is monitoring the lion with a Global Positioning System tag. “I caught him a few days after Cecil’s death”. Two Zimbabweans – a professional hunter and a farm owner – have been arrested for the killing.

For his part, the dentist, Walter Palmer, said that he used local guides and hunting agents in Zimbabwe to ensure he was operating legally and so was not aware that the hunt was illegal. The video below shows Cecil the lion with his pride.

But Cecil’s killing will have an impact on the area, explained Stapelkamp, a field researcher for an Oxford University study on lions.

The source said the hunter, whose nationality he did not disclose, had since left Zimbabwe, but police had recovered the lion’s head and carcass.

“Cecil’s coalition involved a partnership with another handsome male, nicknamed Jericho”, Macdonald wrote.