bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Conservationists and politicians have called on the EU to ban the import of lion heads, paws and skins as hunters’ trophies from African countries that cannot prove their lion populations are sustainable, following the killing of Zimbabwe’s most famous lion by a European hunter with a bow and arrow.
The death of a radio-tagged lion called Cecil, which was allegedly lured out of Hwange national park with bait, was described as a tragedy by wildlife groups and has led Zimbabwean authorities to attempt to track down the big cat’s hunter, who is believed to be Spanish.
But the lion, whose head and skin were removed, is only one of about 200 such lion “trophies” that hunters legally import to the EU each year. Germany, France and Spain are the biggest importers.
WATCH: Cecil the lion crosses the road in Hwange national park

In February, scientific advisers to the EU banned imports from Benin, Burkina Faso and Cameroon for the first time, on the grounds that their wild lion populations were not sustainable.
Lions were classed as vulnerable on the latest update to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s red list of endangered species, and critically endangered in western Africa due to over-hunting and a scarcity of prey.
MEPs said the Cecil incident showed that if hunters were desperate enough to lure lions out of national parks with bait rather than killing them in areas with a hunting quota, lion populations in Zimbabwe were clearly not sustainable.
They said the EU’s import ban should be extended to any African countries without independent, scientific data to show that lion hunting is sustainable.
Liberal Democrat MEP, Catherine Bearder, said: “The shooting of Cecil the lion was tragic and cruel, but it has at least shone a spotlight on the absurdity of the current situation. Despite the number of lions across Africa plummeting in recent years, hunters are still allowed to import lion hunting trophies into the EU from several African countries."
Keith Taylor, Green party MEP for south-east England, said he supported Bearder’s call for action.
“It’s outrageous that lions are being killed just so someone in Europe can decorate their home with the body parts. The European commission must immediately impose an EU ban on all imports of lion body parts,”he said.
A group of experts known as the Scientific Review Group (SRG) makes decisions on whether countries should be blacklisted or not. Zimbabwe - along with Namibia, Tanzania and South Africa - is listed as “positive”, with a sustainable enough population of lions to accommodate hunting.
Dr Peter Kat, a trustee at the UK-based charity Lionaid, said without the SRG having access to more data, there should be a temporary ban.
“What we need is independent lion counts in various countries where we are now allowing imports. Until and unless those counts are produced, then there is a moratorium. At the moment, it’s ’show us that it is unsustainable’ [a country’s lion population for hunting]. Now we need the reverse: show us that it is sustainable."
The Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association confirmed on its Facebook page that it had suspended the membership of one of the professional guides who had assisted the hunter.
Cecil was a 13-year-old lion with a distinctive black mane, and was reportedly lured out of the national park with bait earlier this month, before being killed with a bow and arrow and rifle, before being skinned and beheaded. Kat said that such baiting was legal in Zimbabwe, even on the edge of a national park, but it appeared the hunter had broken the law by killing the lion in an area without a hunting quota.
CNN reported that the lion’s head and skin have subsequently been found and would be used as evidence.


Roars of outrage: Hunter lures beloved lion Cecil out of park with bait, kills him with arrow

Cecil the lion in Hwange national park. Photo: YouTube/Bryan Orford

American dentist accused of paying US$50,000 to kill Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe

Cecil's death has led authorities to attempt to track down the hunter. Photo: YouTube/Bryan Orford

American James Palmer, who is wanted for the killing of the famous lion Cecil in Zimbabwe, sits beside a previous kill. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Big-game hunter James Palmer poses beside a bear that killed. Photo: SCMP Pictures

James Palmer is seen beside a rhino that he has killed. Photo: SCMP PIctures

Mr Palmer with a leopard, shot in Zimbabwe in 2010


Protesters gather outside the Minnesota dental practice of Dr Walter Palmer. Photo: AFP

News

World