A short 15 months after Cecil the Lion was illegally shot and killed in Zimbabwe, a new situation is rapidly developing in neighboring Zambia, which could lead to some very-well known Zambian lions being legally hunted in an area immediately adjoining South Luangwa National Park, the jewel in Zambia’s safari crown.
Two sets of brothers, one known as The Hollywood Boys, and the other known as Ginger & Garlic, are possibly facing a fate similar to Cecil’s because Zambia has recently reinstated its big cat hunts and these boys (who are not scared of humans because they are habituated to photographic tourists), make for an easy target.
Both pairs of lions are what is known as ‘pride males’ – i.e. they actively protect and sire cubs in their respective territories. They have several litters of dependent cubs at the time of this writing. These are all prime age males who can still breed for quite a few years. If one coalition partner is killed, the survivor will likely lose control over its pride to other coalitions nearby. This will inevitably lead to the killing of the existing pride cubs in the four or five prides that are currently being protected by this quartet. According to researchers, the death of one active pride male can lead to a ‘cascade’ of other deaths.
Responsible hunters are ethical hunters. In this case, the hunters have apparently said that for them, ‘huntable’ lions are non-pride males older than six years – in other words, lions that are either looking to establish domination over new prides or those who have been evicted from their old prides. We must ensure that Charlton McCallum Safaris is aware of the possible consequences of actions they might take and that they abide by the tagline of their own association which says “Ethics is everything”.
Let’s prevent another Cecil. Let’s keep the Hollywood Boys and Ginger & Garlic alive.
