Zimbabwe lifts hunting ban imposed after killing of Cecil the lion

Zimbabwe has lifted a ban on big game hunting outside a national park 10 days after imposing the moratorium following the illegal killing of the country’s most prized lion, NBC News in the United States reported on Monday. Authorities in Zimbabwe imposed an indefinite ban on August 1 on hunting in areas surrounding Hwange National Park amid international outrage after a rare black-maned lion called Cecil was lured from the park and killed by an American hunter with a bow and arrow.

Cecil the lion was yours, and you failed to protect him.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, suggesting Zimbabwean citizens were to blame for the beloved animal’s death.

Bans in those areas will be reviewed following the trial of a local man accused of helping American hunter Walter Palmer lure Cecil out of the park. Theo Bronkhorst has been charged with breaching hunting rules when he failed to stop Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, from killing Cecil last month. Cecil’s death sparked intense social media reaction against Palmer and days of protests outside his dental practice. Hunting lions is legal in many countries in Africa where supporters say that if it is properly regulated, it can generate much-needed revenue that can be used for conservation.