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The brother of Cecil the lion has been shot dead today, it was claimed.

The lion was believed to have been killed in a park in Zimbabwe at about 4pm local time this afternoon.

However, experts tracking the beast have since slammed the claims as lies.

Johnny Rodrigues, Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, said: "It is with great sadness and regret that we report that Jericho was shot dead at 4pm this afternoon.

"We have no further details but will advise as soon as we know more.'

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Cecil was killed earlier this week by US dentist Walter Palmer , sparking anger around the world.

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It has further been reported by the newspaper that the dentist's office at his surgery in Bloomington, Minnesota, is packed with stuffed heads of slaughtered animals.

Zimbabwe called Palmer a “foreign poacher” and demanded his extradition from the US.

The White House said it would review a public petition calling for him to be extradited after more than 100,000 people signed it .

Zimbabwe’s Environment Minister Oppah Muchinguri said today: “We are appealing for his extradition to Zimbabwe so that he can be held accountable for his illegal action.

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“It was too late to apprehend the foreign poacher because he had already absconded to his country of origin.”

It also emerged that Palmer was planning to shoot an elephant next.

Theo Bronkhorst, who headed Palmer’s hunting expedition, said: “The client asked if we would find him an elephant larger than 63 pounds, [the weight of one tusk] which is a very large elephant.

“But I told him I would not be able to find one so big, so he left the next day.”

A huge petition has also been launched in the United States, trying to force the government to ban imports of hunting trophies and endangered lions and other wildlife. It currently has almost 1 MILLION signatures .

In the US the decision rests with the US fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which decides whether a species is considered endangered and whether its trophies can be legally imported to the US.

Hunters like to mount the heads of their kills on their walls - and if they can’t do that, it is thought they are unlikely to pay tens of thousands of dollars to kill.

Launched by global campaigning group Avaaz, there is also a protest planned for next week to deliver the protest to lawmakers in Washington.

Luis Morago, campaign director at Avaaz said: “Cecil was brutally killed so a wealthy American could brag to his friends over a stuffed lion’s head.

"The worldwide roar of outrage at Cecil’s death shows that people want endangered lions to be safe on Africa’s savannahs, not decorating dentist’s houses.

"The US government must respond to the outcry by banning the import of hunting trophies that threaten the survival of Africa’s majestic lions.”