Slightly greater than two years after — and not far from where — his father Cecil was killed by Walter James Palmer, Xanda the lion was shot dead just outside Hwange National Park in northwest Zimbabwe.
Son of Cecil the Lion Shot Dead By Hunter
A professional hunter discovered an electronic collar on the dead lion; handed it back to researchers; and communicated what had happened. According to this article written by
There is hope that “there would soon be a 5km exclusion zone around the Hwange National Park so that hunters would no longer accidentally shoot collared lions that” wander “outside the boundary of the Park.”
The client “may have paid about £40,000.00 for the shoot” — as well as for the head of Xanda “to be cured and mounted and sent to him wherever he lives.”
Walter Palmer was not charged with the killing of Cecil the lion back in 2015.
Summary
As I already wrote in this article, I prefer to shoot animals with a camera — not a gun or crossbow.
It is one thing for people to hunt for animals for food, clothing, medicinal or population control purposes — although the ethics of that can be debated depending on which viewpoint you believe. I have always felt that if an animal must be killed, then use all of it and let none of it go to waste: the meat for food and the fur for clothing, for example…
…but to simply kill an animal for sport?
I am unsure of what is the fun of shooting an animal and mounting its head up on a wall. I would much prefer watching animals in their native habitat going about their lives.
If you would like to see some of the animals which I am proud to have shot during a safari in which I participated in Kenya back in 2015, please refer to these photographic essays…
- Cheetah — When I was unexpectedly treated to witnessing a cheetah surprising its prey, killing it and feasting on it
- Giraffe — When I simply hung around with the awkward but graceful giraffes
- Zebra — Watching zebras and their sometimes quirky behavior was interesting to me
- Lion — Viewing of the lion with one eye with his lioness companion
- Buffalo — Enjoying hanging out with elephants at a watering hole and witnessing the migration of large herds of cape buffalo
- Monkey — Observing playful vervet monkeys
- Baboon — Watching an olive baboon nursing her young
- Rhinoceros — Spotting a lone black rhinoceros crossing the road
- Flamingos — Dozens of pink greater flamingos; as well as pelicans and other waterfowl
- Birds — …as well as the different varieties of birds which I spotted while on safari in Kenya
There are more photographs of different animals on deck from that safari to be highlighted in future articles — including but not limited to hippopotami.
I would rather have done all of that — and recorded them with my camera — than to shoot them with guns or crossbows. The animals somehow seem to live longer that way.
The lion in the photograph at the top of this article is neither Cecil nor Xanda. Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
