Melody Teh
Family & Pets

Cecil the lion’s son Xanda killed by game hunters

Remember Cecil the lion? He was shot and killed in July 2015 by Walter Palmer, a Minnesota dentist and trophy hunter.

The death of the 13-year-old lion caused global outrage, putting a spotlight on game hunting.

Now two years after his father was killed Cecil’s son has also been shot dead by a trophy hunter, conservationists in Zimbabwe say.

A group named Friends of Hwange Trust wrote on Facebook that six-year-old Xanda was shot on a "legal trophy hunt" several days ago.

At the age of six, Xanda was apparently old enough to be legally targeted by big game hunters, the BBC reports.

The Friends group said Xanda was wearing a GPS collar fitted by Oxford University researchers when he was killed outside the boundary of Hwange National Park.

It is not yet known who paid to shoot Xanda. A professional hunter is said to have reported the death to the authorities and returned the lion's collar.

Tags:
News, Lion, Family & pets, Hunting