Cecil the Lion, king of Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park was shot and killed by a Spanish hunter who bribed wildlife guides £35,000 to allow him capture the animal.
Huffington Post reports the 13-year-old famous big cat was among the country's popular tourist attractions. After the Spaniard shot Zimbabwe's symbolic lion with crossbow and rifle, Cecil was then reportedly beheaded and skinned.
Spanish wildlife conservation organization, Chelui4lions wrote to Zimbabwe officials that the tragic case of Cecil was involved with the illegal imports of lion heads as trophies in Spain.
"From 2007 to 2012 Spain was the country that imported the most lion trophies from South Africa. During this period it imported 450 heads, compared to 100 in Germany. Europe needs to ban these lion hunting trophies altogether," Chelui4lions spokesman Luis Muñoz stated.
According to Born Free Foundation president Will Travers,"24 of the 62 lions that have been tagged by the project have been shot by sport-hunters and one can only imagine the negative impact that the sport hunting of lions is having on the population of Zimbabwe."
Conservationalist Johnny Rodrigues, who first confirmed to BBC's Newsday Program that the hunter was from Spain said Cecil's 6 male cubs will be then killed by a new pride leader to stop them from mating the females.
"Cecil's death is a tragedy," Rodrigues told BBC. "Not only because he was a symbol of Zimbabwe but because now we have to give up for dead his six cubs, as a new male won't allow them to live so as to encourage Cecil's three females to mate."
"The two people who accompanied the hunter have been arrested but we haven't yet tracked down the hunter, who is Spanish," he added. "It's more silent. If you want to do anything illegal, that's the way to do it."
The Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association reported that members of the group were involved with this devastating poaching and are now under investigation.
