"It was monitored almost daily and we were aware the Xanda and his pride was spending a lot of time out of the park in the last six months," Andrew Loveridge, a researcher involved in the study, told the Daily Telegraph. "But there is not much we can do about that."
Shocked by the news, mourners including the national parks’ lion guardians took to Facebook to lament the loss.
"We can't believe that now, 2 years since Cecil was killed, that his oldest Cub #Xanda has met the same fate," the group wrote. "When will the Lions of Hwange National Park be left to live out their years as wild born free lions should."
Researchers insist that, despite the sad news, Cooke shouldn’t be demonized.
"Richard Cooke is one of the ‘good’ guys," suggested Loveridge. "He is ethical and he returned the collar and communicated what had happened. His hunt was legal and Xanda was over 6-years-old, so it is all within the stipulated regulations."
According to BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding, at the age of six lions are generally old enough to be legally targeted by hunters.
Xanda left behind multiple young cubs.
About 90 percent of the world’s lion population has been lost over the last century, according to the Guardian. Just within the last 10 years, the number of lions killed has tripled to 1,500.
Cecil the lion made headlines in 2015 after Walter James Palmer, a Minnesota dentist, shot the 13-year-old lion with a bow and arrow. While the first strike did not kill Cecil, the hunter followed him for more than 40 hours before finishing him off with a rifle. Reports indicated the famed lion was beheaded and skinned.
It is believed that Palmer paid $50,000 to hunt within Zimbabwe’s reserve.
