Cecil’s death: President Robert Mugabe blames foreign ‘vandals’
AUTHORITIES have reportedly lifted a country-wide ban on lion, elephant, and leopard hunting that was imposed just a week ago, in the wake of Cecil the lion’s death.
The ban was imposed on August 2 following global outrage over the killing of Cecil by US dentist Walter Palmer on an illegal hunt just outside Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe.
The parks and wildlife authority, Zimparks, also suspended hunting with a bow and arrows, which Palmer had used to injure Cecil, except with express permission from the authority’s head.
A statement from the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association, leaked this weekend, read: “We are pleased to inform you that, following some useful discussions between operators and the relevant Zimbabwean authorities, the suspension has now been uplifted throughout the country.”
However, there are some exceptions, with lion-hunting still banned in the Antoinette farm that Cecil was killed in in early July, another farm where a second lion was recently illegally hunted, and in two other areas.
The statement also says that Zimbabwe authorities appear to have banned all hunting of “collared iconic animals.”
Cecil was wearing a collar when he was killed, and was one of several collared lions in Hwange to be killed so far this year, according to conservationists.
After the ban was imposed, conservationists expressed fears it could lead to a rise in poaching, as safari operators look to make up for lost income.
Emmanuel Fundira, director of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, told Al Jazeera he was concerned the potential losses could be far-reaching.
He said: “Some communities depend on commercial hunting, and these people cannot be punished because of the actions of a few individuals.” -Agencies
Meanwhile, AP on Monday reported that President Robert Mugabe says his compatriots failed in their responsibility to protect a popular lion named Cecil that was killed by an American in an allegedly illegal hunt.
In his first public comments about the lion, Mugabe said on Monday that Zimbabweans should protect their natural resources from foreign “vandals” who try to illegally acquire those resources.
Referring to Cecil, Mugabe said: “He is dead but yours to protect, and you failed to protect him.”
“The sovereign right, supreme in its essence over all that is under Zimbabwe, all that is above the land, growing, the forest, the creatures, those creeping, those running on fours, even Cecil the Lion, is yours,” Mugabe told the gathering.
Mugabe made the comments in a speech on the Heroes Day, a national holiday honouring fighters who died in the war to end white minority rule.
According Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, Cecil the Lion was a major tourist attraction.
Minister Oppah Muchinguri has called for the extradition of James Walter Palmer, who killed Cecil. Palmer says he relied on his professional guides to ensure the hunt was legal.
A professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst was arrested and charged for “failing to prevent an unlawful hunt” and is out on US$1000 bail.