A legendary lion that was studied by Oxford University experts has been cruelly killed in Zimbabwe.
Blondie was shot dead by heartless trophy hunters during the week of June 29 outside Hwange National Park, the country’s largest natural reserve.
The lion was reportedly fed chunks of meat from the back of a truck to bait him away from the park, where poaching is prohibited, and into a hunting area.
The tragedy came just three months after research experts fitted Blondie with a GPS collar to track him and his pride of 10 cubs and three adult females as part of a long-term study.
There are concerns that a professional hunter involved in the hunt was aware that Blondie was collared and that he had dependent cubs.
Africa Geographic CEO Simon Espley said: ‘As the sponsor of Blondie’s research collar, we are dismayed and angered by this development.
‘That Blondie’s prominent collar did not prevent him from being offered to a hunting client, confirms the stark reality that no lion is safe from trophy hunting guns.
‘He was a breeding male in his prime, making a mockery of the ethics that ZPGA regularly espouses and the repeated claims that trophy hunters only target old, non-breeding males.’
A legendary lion that was studied by Oxford University experts has been killed by hunters in Zimbabwe. A photograph showing the gun-toting trophy hunter kneeling down beside his body was posted online and later removed
Blondie was shot dead by heartless trophy hunters during the week of June 29 outside Hwange National Park
The tragedy came just three months after research experts fitted Blondie with a GPS collar to track him and his pride of 10 cubs and three adult females as part of a long-term study
It has been reported that, two weeks prior to the hunt, the hunter confirmed seeing Blondie with cubs and lionesses.
When approached for his side of the story, the hunter declined to comment, other than to say that the hunt was ‘conducted legally, and ethically,’ Africa Geographic reports.
A photograph showing the gun-toting trophy hunter kneeling down beside Blondie’s body was posted online and later removed.
Blondie was just five years old and was the last known descendant of the Somadada pride, which had previously moved from Hwange into community areas.
He had since established a stable pride in an area where resident lions have historically been scarce, due in part to conflict with local communities and previous hunting pressure.
Strict Zimbabwean hunting regulations stipulate a minimum age of six years for trophy lions, with an emphasis on targeting older, non‑breeding males.
Blondie fell well below that threshold, making his killing deeply controversial and widely condemned.
The loss of this key male lion is expected to cause turmoil for the pride, with a high likelihood that incoming rival males will kill his youngest cubs.
Last night, Mike Blignaut, the co-owner of Victoria Falls Safari Services who allegedly organised the hunt for Blondie, said: ‘At this time I cannot comment as I have been advised not to by the Zimbabwe Professional Guides Association.
‘But I will say the hunt was legal and conducted ethically.’
It comes after sixteen lions were killed by poachers who hacked the faces and paws off eight of the adults to sell their teeth and claws to be used to turn into black magic potions in 2020.
Distraught Gert Blom, 51, who owns Predators Rock Bush Lodge in Rustenburg, South Africa, was surprised when he woke up not to hear his lion pride roaring as usual at dawn.
He went down to their enclosure and found his two male lions and six lionesses missing and followed drag trails to behind a perimeter wall where he found them all butchered.
Gert said: ‘They had hacked off 32 paws for the claws and eight of their snouts for their teeth after killing them with poisoned chicken which is a really agonising death for the lions.
‘It is cruelty that is beyond belief and an absolutely terrible sight to behold when you see magnificent predators lying there covered in flies minus their faces and their paws’.
A further devastating blow was that two of the lionesses were within 24 hours of giving birth and a post mortem showed that they died with 3 unborn cubs inside each.
Another lioness had given birth the day before she was poisoned and two of her cubs were found dead and it is thought they probably died after suckling milk that was poisoned.
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