The “severely decayed” carcass of Jericho the lion was discovered on Saturday after the animal apparently died of natural causes in the country’s Hwange National Park
The brother of Cecil the Lion has died in the Zimbabwean safari park where his sibling was controversially shot by a trophy hunter last year.
The “severely decayed” carcass of Jericho the lion was discovered at about 5pm on Saturday.
The animal apparently died of natural causes in the country’s Hwange National Park.
The lion’s body was said to have been discovered by Hwange Lion Research researcher Jane Hunt during a routine monitoring of the park’s collared lions.
The animal had been tracked for the past six months, according Hwange Park’s Caroline Washaya-Moyo.
Ms Washaya-Moyo told the website an investigation would look into the death, the the Daily Mail reported.
“Although Ms Hunt and her team did not see any sign of the cat being shot or snared, the fact that he had such a high profile following the death of Cecil – and perhaps would be coveted by hunters – prompted them to order an investigation into his death,” she told the website.
“Samples were taken from the carcass, which was severely decayed and sent for testing.
The death comes after Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer avoided prosecution over the illegal shooting of Cecil last June in the park.
In July, Palmer was showing no signs he had suffered from the international outrage over the shooting as he climbs into his new £91,000 Porsche.
The dentist, who avoided prosecution over the illegal death, was seen at his practice driving his new Cayenne Turbo.
Instead of opting to keep a low profile the 56-year-old was seen swanning around in his car without a care in the world.
“Walter kept his head down knowing there would be backlash but he knew it would blow over,” said an insider.-UK MIRROR
