{"id":138015,"date":"2015-07-27T11:25:30","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T11:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=138015"},"modified":"2015-07-27T11:25:30","modified_gmt":"2015-07-27T11:25:30","slug":"zimbabwes-iconic-lion-cecil-killed-by-hunter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=138015","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe’s ‘iconic’ lion Cecil killed by hunter"},"content":{"rendered":"

A hunter allegedly paid a $55,000 (\u00a335,000) bribe to wildlife guides to kill an “iconic” lion in Zimbabwe, a conservationist has told the BBC.<\/p>\n

Allegations that a Spaniard was behind the killing were being investigated, Johnny Rodrigues said.<\/p>\n

The lion, named Cecil, was shot with a bow and arrow and rifle, before being beheaded and skinned, he added.<\/p>\n

The 13-year-old lion was a major tourist attraction at Zimbabwe’s famous Hwange National Park.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe, like many African countries, is battling to curb illegal hunting and poaching which threatens to make some of its wildlife extinct.<\/p>\n

Mr Rodrigues, the head of Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, said the use of a bow and arrow heralded a new trend aimed at avoiding arrest.<\/p>\n

“It’s more silent. If you want to do anything illegal, that’s the way to do it,” he told BBC’s Newsday programme.<\/p>\n

‘Lion baited’<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, the lion, which had a distinctive black mane, did not die immediately and was followed for more than 40 hours before it was shot with rifle, Mr Rodrigues said.<\/p>\n

The animal had a GPS collar for a research project by UK-based Oxford University, allowing authorities to track its movements.<\/p>\n

\"Cecil
Cecil’s six cub will be killed as the new lion who takes over the pride will not allow them to live, the conservationist says<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mr Rodrigues said Cecil’s killing was tragic.<\/p>\n

“He never bothered anybody. He was one of the most beautiful animals to look at.”<\/p>\n

The lion had been “baited” out of the park, a tactic which hunters used to portray their action as legal, Mr Rodrigues said.<\/p>\n

Two guides had been arrested and if it was confirmed that the hunter was a Spaniard, “we will expose him for what he is”, he added.<\/p>\n

The six cubs of Cecil will now be killed, as a new male lion in the pride will not allow them to live in order to encourage the lionesses to mate with him.<\/p>\n

“That’s how it works… it’s in the wild; it’s nature taking its course,” Mr Rodrigues said.<\/p>\n

\"Cecil
Cecil was a major tourist attraction at Hwange National Park<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A hunter allegedly paid a $55,000 (\u00a335,000) bribe to wildlife guides to kill an “iconic” lion in Zimbabwe, a conservationist has told the BBC. Allegations that a Spaniard was behind the killing were being investigated, Johnny Rodrigues said. The lion, named Cecil, was shot with a bow and arrow and rifle, before being beheaded and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":138018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-138015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-togbe-afede"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=138015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/138018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=138015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=138015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=138015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}