ZIMBABWE — The son of Cecil the lion, 6-year-old Xanda, has been shot and killed by an American trophy hunter near the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.
According to the Washington Post, officials at Hwange National Park were monitoring Xanda through an electronic collar and noticed that the lion started to leave park grounds.
Andrew Loveridge, who works with the team that supplies the collars said, “I fitted it last October. It was monitored almost daily and we were aware that Xanda and his pride was spending a lot of time out of the park in the last six months, but there is not much we can do about that.”
Once off the park’s premises, Xanda was targeted by professional hunter, Richard Cooke, who returned the collar to researchers after shooting and killing the lion.
Loveridge commented on Cooke’s hunt saying “Richard Cooke is one of the ‘good’ guys. He is ethical and he returned the collar and communicated what had happened. His hunt was legal and Xanda was over 6 years old so it is all within the stipulated regulations.”
Xanda’s death hasn’t been the only case of lion hunting. Back in 2015, Cecil was also killed by hunters in almost the same location as his son.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the lion population has declined 43 percent over the past two decades.