Zimbabwe suspends big game hunting, names another American lion poacher

The Zimbabwean government has suspended the hunting of lions, leopards and elephants in areas outside Hwange National Park, the country's main conservation area for an unspecific period of time, an official said Sunday.

The measure comes after two Americans were accused by Harare of being involved in two separate poaching incidents that resulted in the death of two lions this year.

In the first case, Cecil the lion, a tourist favorite big cat with unusual black mane, was killed by American dentist Walter Palmer early July, triggering international outcry for termination of trophy hunting. Harare has urged Washington to extradite Palmer so he will face trial along with two local collaborators in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) spokesperson Caroline Washaya-Moyo on Sunday confirmed another American, Jan Casmir Sieski from Pennsylvania, partnered a local hunter and private farm owner Headman Sibanda to illegally off-take a lion with a crossbow in April.

Sibanda has been arrested for hunting a lion without a quota and permit at his farm, Washaya-Moyo said.

She added that following the poaching incidents, it has become necessary for the government to further tighten hunting regulations in all areas outside the Hwange National Park.

"The government is directing all players in the field to stop and withdraw," Washaya-Moyo said.

Zimbabwe is home to 80,000 elephants, 750 rhinos, and between 800 to 2,000 lions, most of which roam in Hwange, a park in the country's far northwest that covers more than 16,000 square kilometers, slightly smaller than the size of New Jersey.

Zimbabwean authorities have once suspended lion trophy hunting but lifted the ban in 2011.

Trophy hunting contributes roughly 40 million to 65 million U.S. dollars in revenue to Zimbabwe. The money is to be used by the cash-strapped government conservation agency and local communities to better protect the wildlife.

Washaya-Moyo said the government was aware of the financial implications of the hunting suspension on the various stakeholders involved in trophy hunting and was therefore appealing to the donor community and well-wishers to assist Zimparks to thoroughly investigate the industry's operations.

"Financial resources generated will ensure that Zimparks has sufficient capacity to monitor the activities of this important hunting industry as required by law," she said. Endit