There are mixed reports circulating this morning concerning the well being of Cecil the Lion’s brother Jericho after reports claimed the lion was also brutally shot dead by poachers in Zimbabwe yesterday afternoon.
The news comes after an initial report was issued by the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force charity who claim they were informed that Cecil’s brother had been shot dead at approximately 4pm local in the popular tourist resort of Hwange National Park. However those initial reports have since been rebuffed after a leading field researcher at the Oxford University Wildlife Conservation Research Unit named Brent Stapelkamp, claimed that the feisty feline is alive and well after his collar tracker showed normal activity.
The conflicting reports come after a week of controversy which saw animal lovers across the world take to social media to voice their disapproval and disgust at an US tourist named Walter Palmer who savagely killed Jericho’s brother Cecil with a bow and arrow last month. The reported killings of both lions has prompted Zimbabwean wildlife authorities to suspend the hunting of lions, leopards and elephants in the area.