The son of Cecil the lion — Zimbabwe’s beloved big cat, whose death at the hands of an American trophy hunter triggered widespread outrage two summers ago — has been killed as well, according to a report.
The Facebook group Lions of Hwange National Park said Thursday that Xanda, who was 6 and had several cubs, was fatally shot several days ago by another trophy hunter in Zimbabwe.
“We can’t believe that now, 2 years since Cecil was killed, that his oldest Cub Xanda has met the same fate,” it said. “When will the Lions of Hwange National Park be left to live out their years as wild born free lions should?”
The group said Xanda was killed during a hunt organized by Richard Cooke Safaris, which did not respond to a request for comment. Cooke was not the shooter; a client was, according to the post.
Officials at the Hwange National Park have not yet confirmed the report.
Cecil the lion was killed in nearly the same location in 2015. The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said the 13-year-old black-maned lion was lured out of the national park and shot with a compound bow before being finished off with a rifle. His slaying provoked international outrage and intensified calls for bringing an end to trophy hunting in Africa.
Cecil was one of hundreds of Hwange National Park lions whose lives have been meticulously monitored by Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit. His movements had been followed in “minute detail” from 2008 until his death in 2015, biologist David Macdonald wrote on the unit’s website.
But Cecil was hardly the first big cat to have been shot by hunters in the area: Two other lions well known to researchers had been killed before him in 2015, and more than 60 others had met the same fate in the preceding 15 years.
What made Cecil’s death generate global outrage, the researchers later said, was a combination of unusual factors, including his dark and majestic mane, his English nickname and the dubious circumstances of his killing at the hands of a white, wealthy American.
They said they hoped the attention would lead to improved conservation science — including the purchase of additional satellite collars.
Xanda, Cecil’s son, had been wearing one of those collars since October, according to the Telegraph. One of the lion researchers, Andrew Loveridge, told the newspaper that Xanda’s pride had in recent months been spending time outside of the national park, where hunting is not illegal.
“Richard Cooke is one of the ‘good’ guys,” Loveridge told the Telegraph. “He is ethical and he returned the collar and communicated what happened. His hunt was legal and Xanda was over 6 years old so it is all within the stipulated regulations.”
