Killing of Cecil the lion prompts calls for EU ban on importing lion trophies

Zimbabwe's famous lion was lured out of a national park, killed, beheaded and skinned. Over 200 lions are legally killed and turned into trophies and sent to Europe every year

Conservationists and politicians have called on the EU to ban the import of lion heads, paws and skins as hunters' trophies from African countries that cannot prove their lion populations are sustainable, following the killing of Zimbabwe's most famous lion by a European hunter with a bow and arrow.

The death of a radio-tagged lion called Cecil in Hwange national park was described as a tragedy by wildlife groups and has led Zimbabwean authorities to attempt to track down the big cat's hunter, who is believed to be Spanish.