Yahoo – AFP,
25 Aug 2015
Cecil the
lion was a major tourist attraction at Zimbabwe's Hwange National
Park before
he was killed by an American dentist in July (AFP Photo)
|
Harare
(AFP) - A lion mauled to death a guide leading tourists on a walking safari in
the Zimbabwean national park where Cecil the lion lived before he was shot,
police said Tuesday.
The guide
was attacked on Monday after the group left their vehicle to inspect a pride of
lions with cubs under a tree in the Hwange National Park, the country's largest
natural reserve.
"Some
cubs came near the tourists and one adult lion identified as Nxaha charged at
them," police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told AFP.
"The
adult lion retreated for a while and then came charging at the guide. It knocked
him down and mauled him on the neck and shoulder."
The guide,
Quinn Terence Swales, 40, was airlifted from the scene but pronounced dead on
arrival at a hospital in the resort town of Victoria Falls.
Owners of
the safari camp confirmed the incident in a statement.
"It is
with deep regret and great sadness that we are able to confirm the death of
Quinn Swales, a Camp Hwange professional guide, who was fatally mauled by a
male lion whilst out on a walking safari," Camp Hwange said.
"We
can confirm that Quinn did everything he could to successfully protect his
guests and ensure their safety, and that no guests were injured."
Quinn was
leading six tourists when he was killed.
Charamba
urged visitors to game parks to "remain wary even when the animals appear
friendly because with an animal you can never predict its next move."
The killing
of Cecil the lion in July provoked worldwide outrage when it emerged he was a
favourite attraction among visitors to Hwange and was wearing a tracking collar
as part of an Oxford University research project.
Cecil was
reportedly lured with bait from the safety of the park before being killed by
Walter Palmer, an American dentist armed with a bow and arrow who paid $55,000
(50,000 euros) to shoot a lion.
Palmer's
guide on the expedition, Zimbabwean Theo Bronkhorst, appeared in court last
month and was granted $1,000 bail pending his trial on September 28 on charges
of organising an illegal hunt.
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