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.
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| The German national poses with the dead elephant and his guide |
The elephant - thought to be the largest killed in the country for more than 30 years -was shot on October 8th. Its huge tusks weighed 122 pounds and 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.
Images of the elephant, with the hunter and a man believed to be his guide, were shared on social media.
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| The huge elephant lies dead |
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| the elephants giant tusks |
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 Telegraph 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, became the subject of a global backlash 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'.
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.
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| Palmer |
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| Cecil the Lion |
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.