A professional hunter in Zimbabwe has canceled a plan to raffle a lion hunt at a hunters' convention in the United States, following protests from activists.
Martin Nel said last week that he was scrapping the raffle in which he hoped to sell 100 raffle tickets for USD 1,500 each in Las Vegas next month.
Nel says the raffle winner could also have chosen to have a lion collared for research, and that the project was designed to raise funds for conservation studies at Zimbabwe's Bubye Valley Conservancy.
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Some conservationists describe lion hunting as a threat to the species, whose numbers in the wild are dwindling.
Last year, an American hunter killed a well-known lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe in what authorities said was an illegal hunt, causing an international outcry.
