Humba was the name of this magnificent lion in Zimbabwe.
He was a son of Cecil, an equally magnificent lion that was popular, collared and studied by researchers at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park. Cecil was killed on July 1, 2015 by American dentist and trophy hunter Walter Palmer (who is still actively ‘hunting’ for trophees, by the way, it makes me sick to my stomach…)
Cecil was cowardly lured out of the protected park with an elephant carcass after Palmer paid a big hunting fee of several tens of thousands of dollars. Cecil was initially wounded by an arrow before being tracked and killed with a bow the next day. His death sparked global outrage, leading to worldwide condemnation of trophy hunting and a surge of public support for wildlife conservation efforts.
Humba is one of the 2 males who took over after Cecil’s murder. Humba and Netsayi were the two lions in power for a long time but, Humba eventually lost his place of power and has since passed.
Why did I paint Humba’s portrait? The portrait is based on photographs in a book about the conservation efforts to protect African lions, with permission of the author and photographer. The number of wild lions in Africa has dramatically declined over the years. Not just by hunters and poachers, but also because many of the native people considered killing a lion a part of their transition into manhood. The Masai people are a good example of how change can happen, though. They no longer kill lions as a rite of passage, instead, they are now actively involved in conservation. That is the way to go!
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