A hunter in Zimbabwe has killed an offspring of Cecil, the lion whose death two years ago at the hands of a Twin Cities dentist sparked international outrage, a leading researcher said Thursday.
Six-year-old Xanda, sporting a research tracking collar, was killed last week by a trophy hunter on safari just outside the Hwange National Park in the western part of the southern African nation, Andrew Loveridge from Britain's Department of Zoology at Oxford University in Britain, told the Star Tribune.
Loveridge's department has been collaring lions in the park to monitor them.
Loveridge told the London-based Telegraph newspaper that Richard Cooke, the guide with the hunter who killed the male offspring, "is one of the good guys. He is ethical, and he returned the collar and communicated what had happened. His hunt was legal and ... all within the stipulated regulations."
In July 2015, Bloomington dentist Walter Palmer was near the same park when he shot Cecil with a bow and arrow during a nighttime hunt. Cecil, popular with tourists and known for his distinctive black mane, also had on a research collar when he left the park and was killed.
Loveridge told the Telegraph that he wants a 5-kilometer safe zone around the park as added protection for collared lions. He told the Star Tribune that Xanda was killed about 2 kilometers outside the park's boundary.
"When will the lions of Hwange National Park be left to live out their years as wild, born-free lions should?" reads a posting by Lions of Hwange National Park on the group's Facebook page.
Cecil's death unleashed global condemnation of Palmer, who was the target of protests, death threats, and vandalism at his Florida property and his dentist office. The backlash forced the Eden Prairie resident to halt his practice for several weeks.
