Updated 3:28 PM ET, Sat August 1, 2015
(CNN)The brother of slain Cecil the lion, named Jericho, was killed Saturday in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, a senior park official told CNN.
Jericho was gunned down by a hunter operating illegally, said Johnny Rodrigues, head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.
Cecil was also killed illegally, provoking an international outrage because he was a protected animal, and Zimbabwe is seeking the extradition of American dentist Walter Palmer on accusations that he and others illegally hunted the lion, authorities said.
Cecil the Lion’s brother, ‘Jericho,’ killed by hunter
“It is with huge disgust and sadness that we have just been informed that Jericho, Cecil’s brother has been killed at 4pm today,” Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said Saturday on Facebook.
“We are absolutely heart broken,” the Task Force added.
Jericho was considered to be caring for and defending Cecil’s cubs, but the survivability of those cubs wasn’t immediately clear in the aftermath of Jericho’s death.
Some of the cubs may have been Jericho’s, said David Macdonald, director of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, who has been studying Cecil.
Male coalitions, often between brothers, oversee prides of females in lion society and protect the prides from threats posed by outsider male lions, the scientist said.
Exposing the Big Game 
Why am I not surprised. I hope the outrage continues. It is needed, although the backlash is starting to building from the humans-are-the-only-ones-that-matter brigade.
Yes. I saw one comment that said something to the effect of: “An animal is not a human baby. An animal will never grow up to write a beautiful symphony, design architectural wonders of cities, cure diseases and save lives.”
I wanted to say “well guess what? 99.99% of human beings won’t either.”
Right. LOL! An animal will never grow up to be Vlad the Impaler, Hitler, or Ted Nugent either.
Just saw another announcement (maybe not verified) that Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force announced at 3:30 there was a ban on the hunting of lions, leopards, and elephants. Then he got notice that Jericho died at 4 o’clock. Coincidence or revenge for outraged hunters or just some contemptible specimen determined to get his trophy?
That’s what I wondered