On Sunday morning, volunteers at Hwange National Park confirmed Cecil the Lion’s “brother”, Jericho, was alive and well – following inaccurate reports from Zimbabwe’s Conservation Task Force that he had also been killed by poachers. However, an Oxford University researcher tracking Jericho later said Jericho was alive and moving as of 8 p.m. local time on August. 1, according to CNN.
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The Facebook page of a group called the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force had said Saturday that Jericho was killed.
Jericho protecting Cecil’s cubs after his death one month ago.
Some of the cubs may have been Jericho’s, said David Macdonald, director of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, who has been studying Cecil.
The authority said in a statement that it had agreed to “undertake an industry-wide investigation to crack down and weed out any illegal hunting activities”, but it was not clear if the latest case had emerged from that investigation.
McDonald also explained that Jericho is not in fact Cecil’s blood brother, but rather a partner in a “coalition” of a kind often formed by unrelated male lions to better compete for territory and prides. In the wake of that event, many are calling for the dentist to be extradited to Zimbabwe to face charges for killing the beloved lion, who Palmer claims he killed after obtaining the legal permits.
“The American conducted his hunt in an area where lion hunting is outlawed”. We’ll update this story if more developments arise.
Cecil’s death at the hands of a lion hunter sparked worldwide outrage because he was a protected animal.
Zimbabwe’s National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority accused Jan Casimir Seski of Murrysville, Pennsylvania, of shooting the lion with a bow and arrow in April near Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, without approval, on land where it was not allowed.
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.
The Minnesota dentist and trophy hunter has not been seen since his identity was revealed this week by Zimbabwean conservationists. The cubs were already in danger because Jericho as an older and weaker male.
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Palmer, who is being investigated by the US government over Cecil’s death, has apologised and said he was misled by his guide.
