Jericho alive as Cecil outrage grows
Print Edition
WILDLIFE authorities in Zimbabwe have dismissed rumors that a second lion, Jericho, had been slain after last month’s killing of Cecil the lion by an American trophy hunter.
“The lion known as Jericho is still alive and being monitored by Brent Stapelias of the Lion Research Project,” the 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.
Conservation group the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force 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 outraged by Walter Palmer’s killing of Cecil, Zimbabwe’s best-known lion, renowned for his black mane, outside the Hwange National Park.
But the Friends of Hwange Trust urged the public to treat the announcement about Jericho with caution, saying the reports “appear to be untrue.”
Palmer, a wealthy Minnesota dentist, shot Cecil with a crossbow and arrow during a hunt that cost him US$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 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 apologized and said he was misled by Bronkhorst. But Bronkhorst told reporters 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 has been charged with “failing to prevent an illegal hunt,” claimed both he and Palmer had been “devastated” when they realized 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 grew.
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 around the world.
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.
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