Zimbabwe: Hwange NP – The Cecil Lion Story
In 2015, an American trophy hunting dentist shot and killed Cecil Lion, at the time the most famous lion in Africa, renown for his size, black mane, and leadership of 23-strong pride. Cecil wondered outside the perimeter of the Hwange National Park and was killed despite having a collar on his neck. Cecil was continually monitored and his pride was studied by researches since 2008, and he contributed a lot to understanding of the pride dynamics and lion habits. After Cecil’s death, his brother Jericho took over the pride (usually male lions kill all lion cubs that are not theirs when they take over the pride, but Jericho didn’t do this and protected and took care of everyone in Cecil’s pride of 22). A year later, two younger males came to Hwange and fought and killed Jericho and broke up the pride (Cecil’s son, Xanda left with a small mini-pride and was also shot by a trophy-hunter in 2017). Which finally brings us to the point of this post – these are the two adult males and the current dominant lions in the Hwange National Park, controlling all females and fathering many little cubs.
