I once visited a nature reserve in Mutare, Zimbabwe, that had an interesting sign that read as follows:
- Leave nothing but footprints
- Kill nothing but time
- Take nothing but pictures
I remembered those words when i heard about Cecil's fate. A majestic and truly loved animal was lured out of its protected area to be killed by a trophy hunter from America.
The outrage that followed this killing is justified as killing lions for fun is not part of sustainable tourism.
Learn more about Cecil The Lion:
Cecil was a 13-year-old male Southwest African lion (Panthera leo bleyenberghi) who primarily lived in the Hwange National Park inMatabeleland North, Zimbabwe. He was a major attraction at the park and was being studied and tracked by the University of Oxford as part of a larger study.
Cecil was wounded with an arrow by Walter Palmer, an American recreational big-game hunter, was then tracked, and on 1 July 2015, approximately 40 hours later, killed with a rifle.The killing drew international media attention and sparked outrage among animal conservationists, politicians and celebrities, as well as a strong negative response against Palmer. Two other men are being prosecuted in relation to the hunt, and the Zimbabwean government has stated it will seek Palmer's extradition.
Background
Cecil—named after Cecil Rhodes,and another lion believed to be Cecil's brother were noticed in Hwange National Park in 2008.In 2009, Cecil and his brother encountered an established pride, which resulted in a fight in which Cecil's brother was killed and both Cecil and the leader of the pride were seriously wounded; the leader was subsequently killed by park rangers because of the wounds he had received in the fight with Cecil. Cecil retreated to another part of the park where he eventually established his own pride which had up to 22 members. In 2013, Cecil was forced out from the area by two young male lions into the eastern border of the park.
There, he created a coalition with another male lion named Jericho to establish two prides which consisted of Cecil, Jericho, half a dozen females and up to a dozen cubs sired by Cecil or Jericho.[14]
Cecil was the best-known animal in the national park and was identifiable by his black-fringed mane and a GPS tracking collar. The lions in the park, including Cecil, have been studied by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford University as part of a scientific project that has run since 1999, and his movements had been followed since 2008. Of the 62 lions tagged during the study period, 34 have died. One of the researchers on the project suggested that Cecil had become so popular because he was accustomed to people, allowing vehicles sometimes as close as 10 metres (33 ft), making it easy for tourists and researchers to photograph and observe him.
It is estimated there are between 25,000 and 30,000 lions alive in Africa. In 2013, 49 hunted lion carcasses were exported from Zimbabwe as trophies; the 2005-2008 Zimbabwe hunt "off-take" (licensed kills) average was 42 lions per year.
Death[edit]
In June 2015, Walter Palmer, an American dentist and recreational game hunter from Minnesota, reportedly paid US$50,000 to a professional hunter / guide, Theo Bronkhorst, to enable him to kill a lion. Cecil was allegedly lured out of the sanctuary where he was shot and wounded with an arrow. He was tracked, and approximately 40 hours later was killed with a rifle. He was then skinned and his head was removed.When his headless skeleton was found by park investigators, his tracking collar was missing.
On 28 July the UK's The Daily Telegraph reported that independent sources had "seen a copy of the relevant hunting permit".
Zimbabwe National Parks have stated that neither Bronkhorst nor the landowner, Honest Ndlovu, on whose property Cecil was believed to have been shot, had the appropriate permit for a lion. On 31 July 2015, Agence France Presse AFP reported that the Zimbabwean hunt guide, Bronkhorst, declared: "We had obtained the permit for bow hunting, we had obtained the permit for the lion from the council. The two Zimbabweans were arrested by Zimbabwe police and accused of assisting Palmer in the killing. Palmer had already returned to the United States, where he issued a statement that he had "relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt" and "deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion".
For more information about visiting Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe or an unforgettable safari adventure in Botswana or Namibia email us on info@falconsafaris.com
