Zimbabwean Authorities Restrict Hunting After Lion Killing

That generated a furious reaction on the social networking site where animal lovers had already been expressing their fury at the killing on July 1 of Cecil, a rare black-maned lion that was a familiar sight at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.

The announcement follows an global outcry stemming from an American hunter’s killing Cecil, who allegedly was lured out of a national park.

Cecil the lion is seen at Hwange National Parks in this undated handout picture received July 31, 2015.

Cecil had befriended Jericho, Stapelkamp said, and together they oversaw two prides, one with three lionesses and seven cubs and another with three lionesses.

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.

Zimbabwe had an estimated 2,000 lions on private and government-owned reserves and issued hunting quotas of 50-70 lions every year, he added.

Cecil was a subject of research and had become popular through videos showing him walking leisurely in the wild.

The disclosure came as Zimbabwe called Palmer a “foreign poacher” and demanded his extradition from the US. He should know how to reach the agency “because we convicted him for lying about a bear kill” in Wisconsin in 2009, Grace said.

Now estimated at under 35,000 individuals, Africa’s lion population has plunged by more than 90 percent since the 1950s primarily due to habitat loss, conflict humans, and hunting.

“Jericho is a lone territorial male, and he has to defend territory alone”, Brian Stapelkamp told the Telegraph after Cecil’s death.

Muchinguri said Palmer would be sought on charges of financing an illegal hunt and for violation of Section 123 of the Parks and Wildlife Act, which controls the use of bows and arrows in hunting.

But if Jericho were killed, the cubs’ chance for survival “is probably gone”, said Dave Salmoni, an apex predator expert for the Animal Planet.

According to USA Today, Zimbabwe is looking to extradite Palmer, however, the United States now does not have an extradition treaty with the southern African nation. Some 40 hours later, the wounded cat was tracked down and Palmer killed it with a gun, they said.

He revealed that Palmer had a photograph taken with the body of Cecil – as is normal for trophy hunters.