President Robert Mugabe has said Zimbabweans failed in their responsibility to protect Cecil, a lion shot by an American hunter.
President Mugabe said his compatriots should protect their natural resources from what he called foreign “vandals.”
In a speech for National Heroes Day, he said: “Even Cecil the lion – he is yours. He’s dead!”
The lion – a favourite at Hwange National Park – died after he was shot by Walter Palmer using a bow and arrow, the BBC reports.
The dentist from Minnesota has said he believed the hunt was legal.
It is thought he paid about $50,000 (£32,000) to hunt 13-year-old Cecil, who wore a GPS collar and was being studied by Oxford University for conservation purposes.
Mr. Mugabe used a speech in Harare to make his first public comments about the lion, whose death sparked international condemnation.
He said: “He was yours to protect and you failed to protect him.
“There are vandals who come from all over of course, some may be just ordinary visitors, but (there are) others who want to vandalise, to irregularly and illegally acquire part of our resources.”
Prosecutors have said the lion was shot with an arrow after being lured out of its protected zone, and died from a bullet wound inflicted 40 hours later after it had suffered major blood loss.
Zimbabwe is battling to curb illegal hunting and poaching which threatens to make some of its wildlife extinct.
The country is seeking Mr. Palmer’s extradition.
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