{"id":38304,"date":"2025-08-01T02:11:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T02:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/38304\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T02:11:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T02:11:15","slug":"who-killed-blondie-lion-lured-from-reserve-by-trophy-hunter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/38304\/","title":{"rendered":"Who killed Blondie? Lion \u2018lured from reserve by trophy hunter\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A collared male lion named Blondie, who was part of a pride studied by Oxford University scientists in Zimbabwe, was allegedly shot by a trophy hunter who lured him out of his protected reserve with bait. <\/p>\n

Africa Geographic, a company focused on providing ethical safaris, revealed the five-year-old was killed last month, leaving behind young cubs.<\/p>\n

The company reported the big cat was lured out of a photographic concession area near Hwange, despite being part of a scientific study. Blondie had only been fitted with a GPS satellite collar by researchers from Oxford University\u2019s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit a few months before.<\/p>\n

\"Lion<\/p>\n

Blondie\u2019s killing is \u201cexpected to cause turmoil for the pride\u201d<\/p>\n

OWEN GROBLER\/SEARCHING FOR SPOTS<\/p>\n

\"Lion<\/p>\n

OWEN GROBLER\/SEARCHING FOR SPOTS<\/p>\n

The research collar was \u201cfitted to track free-roaming lions, prevent human-wildlife conflict and support long-term conservation,\u201d it said. The Oxford team was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

Simon Espley, chief executive of Africa Geographic, said: \u201cAs the sponsor of Blondie\u2019s research collar, we are dismayed and angered by this development. That Blondie\u2019s prominent collar did not prevent him from being offered to a hunting client confirms the stark reality that no lion is safe from trophy hunting guns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Africa Geographic said: \u201cHis sudden loss is expected to cause turmoil for the pride, with a high likelihood that incoming rival males will kill his youngest cubs.\u201d This is common behaviour among prides, it noted.<\/p>\n

The company said the hunt had been conducted by a professional hunter who was a member of the Zimbabwe Professional Guides Association (ZPGA). The association did not reply to a request for comment. Under Zimbabwean law, lions under six years of age are not allowed to be hunted.<\/p>\n

\u2022 We make our living from lion hunts in South Africa \u2014 why would we stop?<\/a><\/p>\n

Mike Blignaut, co-owner of Victoria Falls Safari Services, who allegedly helped organise the hunt, told The Times in a text message: \u201cI cannot comment on anything. This is under instruction from ZPGA.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

But he added: \u201cI do wanna assure you, though, that the hunt was legal and conducted ethically.\u201d He did not respond to follow-up questions.<\/p>\n

LionExpose, an activist website that exposes trophy hunters, named the alleged hunter on X.<\/p>\n

The American is being criticised on social media, but denies killing Blondie.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Matthew Parris: Why I decided to go it alone in Zimbabwe<\/a><\/p>\n

He appears to be an avid hunter, however, and enjoys riling up the people trolling him. Last week, he posted on Facebook: \u201cYou all know that if I killed a lion it would be my cover photo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never hunted a lion, but I do know a few outfitters that offer lion hunts. Due to recent events I am going to start helping them book lion hunts. Send me a pm [personal message] if interested!! For those of you doubting this post. It is real, let\u2019s kill some lions!!\u201d<\/p>\n

In comments under the posts, strangers tell him they hope he will be killed by a lion as karma. He responds to one saying he did not kill Blondie but \u201cif I had the money I would\u2019ve shot that lion in the face\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last month opponents of lion hunting marked the tenth anniversary of the killing of Cecil<\/a>, a lion that was beloved by tourists, by an American dentist, also in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A collared male lion named Blondie, who was part of a pride studied by Oxford University scientists in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38305,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-38304","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}