One of the biggest elephants in Africa has been killed by a Western hunter in Zimbabwe, less than three months after Cecil the Lion was shot dead.
The creature was pictured on the ground with the hunter – believed to be a German national – posing proudly next to it.
The elephant – thought to be the largest killed in the country for more than 30 years -was shot on October 8th, the Telegraph reported.
The animal’s huge tusks weighed 122 pounds, according to Johnny Rodrigues Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.
The German hunter reportedly paid £39,000 for a hunting permit to shoot the bull elephant as part of an organised hunt at Gonarezhou National Park in south-east Zimbabwe, the newspaper reported.
Images of the elephant, with the hunter and a man believed to be his guide, were shared on social media.
The elephant, thought to be in its mid-40s, is as yet unidentified but Rodrigues believes it may have come from the Kruger Park in South Africa.
Kruger spokesman William Mabasa told the newspaper: “If this elephant came up from the Kruger, he would have had to go through all the communities on the edge of Gonarezhou and someon would have seen him. It’s not possible.
“The most disappointing thing is that when a local Zimbabwean kills an animal for food for his family, he is sentenced to between 5 and 15 years in prison but when a wealthy foreign hunter comes in and shoots an animal, he gets away with it. What message are we giving the people?”
The shooting comes as it emerged the American dentist who killed Cecil will NOT face charges , because authorities say he had legal authority to hunt the animal.
Walter Palmer incurred the wrath of animal-lovers worldwide in July after he shot the beast during a hunt in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.
But it has now emerged that the 55-year-old will not be charged because he had obtained legal authority to hunt the animal and his papers were ‘in order’.
Environment Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said: “We approached the police and then the Prosecutor General, and it turned out that Palmer came to Zimbabwe because all the papers were in order.”
Palmer, from Minnesota, was the subject of a global backlash after the killing earlier this summer.
Cecil the lion , known for his striking black mane, was a famous fixture in the park and had been fitted with a GPS collar as part of Oxford University research.
Palmer admitted to shooting the big cat with an arrow from a compound bow outside the park’s borders.
Cecil didn’t die immediately and conservationists claimed the wounded animal could have wandered for up to 40 hours before being tracked down and killed.
Palmer was greeted by angry crowds when he returned to work last month after several weeks in hiding .
Looking gaunt in Bloomington, Minnesota, the dentist was greeted by hecklers, with one heard shouting “extradite Palmer” and “we will never forget what you did”.
After the statement lion protection charity LionAid released a statement saying: “LionAid is disappointed but not at all surprised that Zimbabwe eventually decided to decline prosecution of Walter Palmer.
“After all, Walter Palmer was only one of many hundreds of trophy hunters before him who hunted at the thin edge of the law. If Zimbabwe had decided to prosecute Walter Palmer it would have established a procedure by which future Walter Palmers could be prosecuted. That would not benefit Zimbabwe’s hunting operator income streams. ” mirror.co.uk
