Theo Bronchorst, a professional hunter who facilitated the death Cecil, one of Africa’s famous lions is set to appear in court tomorrow in Hwange for trial.
This surfaced at a Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe (SOAZ) joint press conference held in Harare today.
Addressing journalists, Emmanuel Fundira, the President of SOAZ said Bronchorst and Mr. Honest Trymore Ndlovu, the owner of Antoinette farm are set to appear in court tomorrow.
“The two are due to appear in court on Wednesday, 29 July 2015 (tomorrow).
“Both professional hunter, Bronchorst and Ndlovu are being jointly charged for illegally hunting the lion,” said Fundira.
Bronchorst is said to have paid a park ranger 50,000 Euros to viciously kill and skin a lion at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.
While reading from the statement, Fundira said that Bronchorst’s licence has been suspended.
“The professional hunter Theo Bronchorst’s license has been suspended with immediate effect. The lion trophy has also been confiscated,
The murder of Cecil has been termed illegal as the land owner in question was not allocated his hunting quota.
“Ongoing investigations to date suggest that the killing of the lion was illegal since the land owner was not allocated a lion on his hunting quota for 2015.
“Therefore, all persons implicated in this case are due to appear in court facing poaching charges,” he said.
Cecil, one of Africa’s most famous lions, was ‘murdered’ in an especially brutal manner, The Guardian Reports. The 13-year-old had a GPS collar for an Oxford University research project, allowing authorities to track its movements.
