Contrary to what had been reported, Jericho the brother of Zimbabwe Lion Cecil is safe and sound in his park in Zimbabwe. Many have thought that Jericho had suffered the same plight of Cecil, who was killed in July.
CNN reports that a researcher from Oxford University has confirmed that Jericho is alive after tracking him on Sunday. The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, who had reported on Saturday that Jericho was dead, had retracted their statement.
Brent Stapelkamp has sent a proof of life of Jericho via his twitter account. Thus, Johnny Rodrigues, the head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, also released a new statement correcting the erroneous information. According to Rodrigues, the lion that died was mistaken as Jericho. But CNN could not verify right away of the new information relayed by Rodrigues through the social media account.
"We apologize for reporting that (Jericho) had died but were confident that our sources were in fact correct," Rodrigues posted in Facebook on Sunday.
However, the incorrect report has generated strong reactions in the midst of Cecil's death. It seems that it has added fuel to the fire. Cecil's death has ignited a global outrage because he was killed in the hands of a hunter. According to the report, Walter Palmer together with two other hunters would be handed over to the American government as Zimbabwe officials sought for extradition.
News Day has also reported the information coming from Brent Stapelkamp, who is a field researcher in Hwange Lion Research Project. He has been monitoring Jericho with a GPS tag. He said that when he learned about the report, he checked on his monitor to ensure if Jericho was alive and well. "I had a look on the computer and his movements look regular. He sent a GPS point from his collar from 8:06 p.m. (1806 GMT). Everything looks fine," Stapelkamp said in an interview with Reuters.
Since Saturday, the authorities handling the Zimbabwe Park have already imposed "an indefinite ban on big game hunting outside the national park." It was reported that Cecil had been lured out from the park before he was killed.
