Hunter who killed Zimbabwe’s iconic lion may have been Spanish

AN EMBLEMATIC lion, known as Cecil and a huge tourist attraction as well as a national symbol for Zimbabwe, has been killed. Allegations that the hunter responsible was Spanish are under investigation.
According to the BBC’s source, the head of the Zimbabwean Conservation Task Force Johnny Rodrigues, the hunter paid two guides a €49,000 bribe to help him kill the iconic lion. Cecil was shot with a crossbow, then the injured animal was tracked for 40 hours before he was finished off with a rifle, beheaded and skinned.
Cecil’s GPS collar, monitored by a research project at Oxford University, meant authorities have been able to trace his movements.
The hunters used bait to tempt the black-maned lion out of the protected area in Hwange National Park, Rodrigues told the BBC, a method used to disguise illegal hunting.
His six cubs will also be victims in this tragic story, as the new leader of Cecil’s pride will kill them to establish his genetic line.