Zimbabwe police looking for man who killed, mutilated famous lion

HARARE, Zimbabwe, July 26 (UPI) -- Authorities in Zimbabwe are trying to track down a hunter who paid about $55,000 to kill and mutilate a famous African lion named Cecil, officials said.

Officials say the hunter is Spanish, and killed Cecil after paying a hunting group for a private safari. The animal's skinned and headless body was later found on the edge of the park.

Investigators said it appears that the 13-year-old lion was lured out of the park by the unknown poacher and subsequently shot with a bow and arrow, the Guardian reported Sunday. The hunters then followed it the dying animal and killed it with a rifle before it was skinned and beheaded.

Officials say animals are often lured from the park because hunters believe that makes the kill legal. Animals that reside in Hwange national park are protected by Zimbabwe law.

Because Cecil was fitted with a GPS receiver, officials were able to track down his remains after 40 hours of searching.

Cecil the lion was a star attraction of Hwange park

"Cecil's death is a tragedy, not only because he was a symbol of Zimbabwe but because now we have to give up for dead his six cubs, as a new male won't allow them to live so as to encourage Cecil's three females to mate," the head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, Johnny Rodrigues, said in the Guardian report. "The two people who accompanied the hunter have been arrested but we haven't yet tracked down the hunter, who is Spanish."

"It is with regret that we have to inform the public that Cecil the Lion, an Iconic figure ... was recently killed outside the park on private land on a safari," the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association wrote on Facebook. "Until such time as the investigation is complete we ask that members and non members, refrain from speculating until all facts have been documented. This is both on the legal aspect and the ethical aspect. We do not know all the facts yet."

Authorities wish to talk with local taxidermists, hoping to find one who may have stuffed Cecil's head -- as it was removed from the body with its hide.

"What hunter, what sort of demented person, would want to kill a magnificent adult lion, known to and photographed by all the park's visitors?" Spanish conservationist Luis Muñoz said. "We are ashamed of the fact that in Spain there are rich madmen who pay for the pleasure of killing wild animals such as lions."