Harare - Wildlife enthusiasts and anti hunting lobbyists say that some good will emerge from the death, in Zimbabwe, of Africa’s most famous lion, Cecil, who was shot with a bow and arrow by an American hunter earlier this month.
There has been unprecedented outrage this week from wildlife experts and social media as details of the lion’s painful death emerged.
Cecil, a 12-year-old lion, was shot and wounded at about 10pm on July 1 by Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, who chose to hunt with a bow and arrow and lured the old lion into view with bait and a spotlight.
According to Theo Bronkhorst, the Zimbabwean who arranged the hunt on a commercial farm adjacent to Hwange National Park, they could not tell the lion was wounded that night, but returned the next morning and, when they saw he was injured, they immediately killed him to end his suffering.
Both Zimbabwe’s wildlife authority and a group of lion experts believe that Cecil’s death will focus attention on ethics in hunting in Zimbabwe and other African countries, including South Africa.
Zimbabwean Brent Stapelcamp, a field researcher for Oxford University’s Hwange Lion Research Project, had been monitoring Cecil and other lions in Hwange National Park for the past nine years.
His group works closely with the government’s Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
Although outraged at his death, Stapelcamp says he believes local and international fury will result in reforms to hunting.
“Cecil’s death has a silver lining; it will change lion conservation as so many are involved in this story. World opinion is against hunting and it will have to be cleaned up. The hunters must learn to stick to ethics, and ensure that animals have a fair chance (in the hunt) and hunters must also put their money back into conservation.”
Cecil, although in his prime, was one of only three or maybe four male lions that old in the Park, as most die, naturally, much younger.
He was a favourite with tourists, as he didn’t flee from safari vehicles and enabled many people to see him up close. His fame spread over the years and visitors regularly asked guides to find him for them.
“I was trained and taught that hunting was good for conservation.
“That is no longer the case and people have got away with so much for years. Hunting needs to be cleaned up,” Stapelcamp said.
He said many hunters had the head of the animal they killed cured at taxidermists in Zimbabwe, and then took their trophies home. Some American hunters deemed the size of the trophy important which had contributed to distortions in hunting.
Cecil was wearing a collar as he had long been part of Oxford University’s project and Stapelcamp became concerned when the signal from it died.
He installed the collar, Cecil’s fourth, and told Independent Newspapers that he had asked Parks officials to look for the old lion, and gave them the GPS from the last signal.
They found his carcass, minus the head which the American hunter had taken away to be cured and which Zimbabwe police may have recovered.
“We were devastated when we found the collar and realised he was tagged (for the project). I did not know Cecil was a famous lion.
“He was a magnificent specimen,” Bronkhorst said, speaking from Zambia last weekend where he was arranging to collect sable to boost Zimbabwe’s wildlife.
He is due to appear in the Hwange Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday along with Honest Trymore Ndlovu, who occupies the formerly white-owned farm where Cecil was killed.
National Parks say that Cecil was poached as there was no permit to hunt him.
“Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management, as the Regulatory Authority and custodian of all wild animals in Zimbabwe, issues hunting permits and hunting quota for all hunting areas in Zimbabwe so that only animals on quota are to be hunted.
“In this case, both the professional hunter and land owner had no permit or quota to justify the off-take of the lion and therefore are liable for the illegal hunt.”
Independent Foreign Service