As you’re probably aware if you’ve been anywhere near the internet this week, Cecil The Lion‘s death at the hands of an American poacher stirred up a great deal of passion amongst your fellow humans.
Jimmy Kimmel‘s tearful monologue on Cecil’s death went viral as all hell, while there have been calls to extradite (and even execute) Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist who shot him and is currently in hiding.
Late yesterday, reports began to surface that Cecil’s brother Jerhico had been shot by poachers, after a Facebook post by the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, who said that they were “heartbroken” by the development.
Despite a number of conflicting reports since, a representative from Hwange Lion Research has come forward to say that Jerhio is alive and well and “probably mating” as we speak.
Brent Stapelkamp told The Guardian that he had personally been monitoring Jerhico’s GPS collar throughout Saturday, and that “nothing looks untoward” about his vital signs.
Reportedly, he was seen with a female lion earlier in the day, presumably telling her how he’s really bummed out about everything that happened, and doesn’t want to be alone right now (get it, Jerhico).
“It looks like he’s been moving around all day and in fact he sent his last points at six minutes past eight our time,” Stapelkamp said. “I’ve been asked to go and look for him tomorrow morning so I will confirm he is alive and send pictures to the world.”
Recarding the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force’s Facebook post, Stapelkamp said that “this kind of misinformation is characteristic of that particular source.” Burn.
Zimbabwe’s Environment Minister has called for Walter Palmer to return to the country and face a trial for killing Cecil.
via The Guardian
Image via Twitter
