Johannesburg: Zimbabwe has suspended the hunting of lions, leopards and elephants in an area where a lion named Cecil, popular with tourists, was killed, while Zimbabwe wildlife authorities on Sunday dismissed rumours that a second lion, known as Jericho, had been slain.
In addition, bow and arrow hunts have been suspended, unless they are approved by the head of the director of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, the organisation said. The authority said it only received information this week about the possibly illegal killing of a lion in April. An arrest has been made in that case, officials said.
“The lion known as Jericho is still alive and being monitored by Brent Stapelias of the Lion Research Project,” Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said in a statement.
“It is also important to note that Jericho is a ‘coalition’ partner to Cecil and not a blood-related sibling,” it said.
The conservation group Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force had said on Saturday that it had been “informed” of the death of Jericho, described as Cecil’s brother.
The announcement was swiftly picked up by global media, causing consternation among animal lovers who were outraged by Walter Palmer’s killing of Zimbabwe’s best-known lion, renowned for his black mane, outside Hwange park.
The announcement suspending hunting follows an international outcry stemming from an American hunter’s killing of Cecil, who was allegedly was lured out of a national park. Zimbabwean authorities say the hunt was illegal and are seeking the extradition of Minnesota dentist Walter James Palmer.
Palmer is believed to have shot the lion with a bow on July 1 outside Hwange National Park after it was lured onto private land with a carcass of an animal, Zimbabwean conservationists have said. The wounded cat was later tracked down and Palmer allegedly killed it with a gun, they said. Two Zimbabweans — a professional hunter and a farm owner — have been arrested for the killing.
Palmer has said he relied on his guides to ensure the hunt was legal.
“Hunting of lions, leopards and elephants outside of Hwange National Park has been suspended with immediate effect,” Zimbabwe’s wildlife authority said in a statement. Any such hunts can only be conducted if confirmed and authorised by the head of the wildlife authority and if the hunters are accompanied by park’s staff, it said.
The wildlife authority said it was necessary to tighten hunting regulations outside the park “following the killing of the iconic lion Cecil.”
Police arrested a Zimbabwean land owner in the case of a lion that was killed in April in the same area where Cecil was fatally shot, said Geoffrey Matipano, conservation director for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
“The outrage over Cecil could have helped because people are now more aware and ready to come with information,” Matipano said, adding that they suspect it was an illegal trophy hunt.
Hwange is favoured by hunters because of its teeming wildlife, Matipano said. Only two lions were illegally killed last year, he said.
Emmanuel Fundira, chairman of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, said his association could lose business as a result of the new hunting ban, but added that the measures were necessary to protect wildlife.
“Hunting brings in no less than $40 million (Dh146 million) a year,” he said.
Palmer’s hunt for Cecil cost him $55,000.
His guide, Theo Bronkhorst, has denied allegations that they spent the next 40 hours tracking the wounded animal before finishing him off with a gun. Instead he said they found the lion early the next morning and killed it with the crossbow.
Bronkhorst also strongly denied that the hunters had lured the animal out of Hwange.
Palmer, who is being investigated by the US government over Cecil’s death, has apologised and said he was misled by Bronkhorst.
But Bronkhorst said on Friday that they had “shot an old male lion that I believed was past his breeding age ... I don’t think that I’ve done anything wrong”. Bronkhorst, who was charged this week with “failing to prevent an illegal hunt”, claimed both he and Palmer had been “devastated” when they realised Cecil was wearing a collar.
Cecil was a popular tourist draw at the park and was wearing a tracking collar as part of an Oxford University research project.
“Both I and the client were extremely devastated that this thing had a collar on because at no time did we see a collar on this lion prior to shooting it,” Bronkhorst said.
“We had done everything above board,” he said.
“I don’t foresee any jail sentence at all. I think it’s been blown out of proportion by social media, and I think it’s been a deliberate ploy to ban all hunting.
“It has probably changed my family’s life, my business, forever ... We have had many, many death threats.”
Zimbabwe called for Palmer’s extradition as worldwide outrage over the shooting swelled. US authorities have opened a probe into the killing.
On Saturday a giant picture of Cecil was among images projected onto the Empire State Building in New York in a dazzling display designed to raise awareness about the plight of endangered animals.
Palmer was branded by US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel as “the most hated man in America” and has been vilified on social media globally.
He has issued a statement expressing regret at the killing, but said he had no idea the lion was protected and part of a study and that he thought the hunt was legal.
He has not appeared in public.
Zimbabwe’s parks authority Saturday announced restrictions on hunting around Hwange park, including an immediate suspension of the hunting of lions, leopards and elephants.