Lions too endangered for hunting
LONDON: Lion hunting should be banned because of the perilous state of the species in southern Africa, according to a researcher who studied Zimbabwe’s most famous animal before he was killed by an American hunter.
American dentist Walter Palmer paid about £35 000 (R691 462) to hunt Cecil the lion with a crossbow, but the death of the 13-year-old animal triggered international anger, forced Palmer into hiding and the guide has been prosecuted for illegal hunting.
Southern African countries are said to make about £650m a year from the big-game hunting industry, with its supporters saying that the money is pumped back into conservation efforts.
Brent Stapelkamp, who leads the Hwange lion project, told Sky News that the hunting of lions should end.
“My personal feeling is lion hunting shouldn’t exist. Where I believe hunting is important, lion hunting... I don’t believe there’s justification for it any more,” he said.
“They are too rare and too sensitive to the pride. The repercussions after that hunt far exceed anything in any other species.”
His comments come as a range of wildlife preservation bodies, including the Zambia Wildlife Authority and the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative, mark World Lion Day today to celebrate the animals and raise awareness of their plight.
A survey by National Geographic found that 19 percent of Americans who had heard about Cecil feel they are now “much more” informed about the decline of big cats in general as a result of hearing about his specific story.
Cecil was wearing a tracking device around his neck and was killed in an area outside the protected Hwange National Park. Tracking data linked to researchers at Oxford University showed he was followed for 40 hours before being shot dead with a rifle.
One of Cecil’s cubs has been reportedly killed as other males seek to take over his territory. Theo Bronkhorst, the guide who took Palmer to the area where he was shot, has appeared in court over the killing, but criticised his prosecution as “frivolous and wrong”. – The Independent