Hunting of lions, leopards and elephants around Hwange National Park will resume next month, a senior official at Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe (SOAZ) has said.
This follows the suspension on the hunt of lions, elephants and leopards imposed by government in an area where a lion popular with tourists was killed.
The killing of Cecil, a 13 year old iconic lion has sparked an outage in the international media, forcing government to ban the hunting of animals in the South West part of Hwange National Park.
Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe President, Mr Emmanuel Fundira, said that the suspension that was prompted by the demise of Cecil, will be lifted up next month.
“Hunting is set to resume next month as government is on the drive to protect conserve wildlife,” he said.
He also revealed that there are a lot of issues revolving around the death of Cecil.
“The international community needs to drag us into an area where we have to destroy our animals, “he said adding that there is need to promote tremendous hunting.
Louis Muller, the Chairman of Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association concurred with Mr. Fundira’s sentiments when he said that the suspension is a corrective measure, which he said is inevitable.
“We welcome the suspension of hunting in the area as a corrective measure, though it has negative consequences on our business,” he said.
