Cecil the lion's cub killed by rival male

Harare

One of Cecil the lion’s cubs has reportedly been killed by a rival lion looking to take over the pride and mate with the group’s three lionesses.The Sunday Mirror reported the cub had been killed, and that the remaining seven cubs only have a five per cent chance of survival, according to wildlife guides at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.

Cecil the lion was killed with an arrow after he was lured off of the national park’s land by professional hunters and an American dentist Walter Palmer, who had paid £35,000 for the opportunity. The arrow did not kill Cecil immediately and the lion took 40 hours to die.

Palmer, reportedly a regular trophy hunter, maintains that he believed the hunt was legal when he carried it out. But the death of the lion sparked public outrage and the dentist reportedly went into hiding after he was named as the killer of the protected animal.

Cecil’s pride now comprises of three lionesses and seven cubs, which have been attempting to hide after leaving their den following Cecil’s death. A source told the newspaper that the pride needs to keep moving to survive, but the cubs are too young to trek long distances.

“The females must become nomadic and keep running. The cubs only have a five per cent chance of survival. It is a disaster,” they told the Sunday Mirror.It also emerged Cecil’s brother, Jericho, who had been guarding the cubs has abandoned the pride. 

Wildlife experts in Zimbabwe say Jericho is unlikely to kill the cubs himself and may instead end up adopting his brothers cubs, believing them to be his own.

“Jericho has now taken over another pride and has been seen with other females. We don’t know if Jericho would return to help the cubs if they were attacked again,” a source at the park confirmed.