Jericho, the "brother" of Cecil whose death created a worldwide outrage, was said to have been killed by poachers in Zimbabwe on Saturday -- but Jericho has been confirmed as alive. Johnny Rodriques of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force previously confirmed Jericho's death. Another group disagreed and questioned this spreading news which led to further investigation, according to the Inquisitr.

It has been confirmed Sunday that Jericho is well and alive roaming its habitat in Zimbabwe, according to Stapelkamp from Oxford University. He dismissed the rumors about Jerichos death since his tracking device shows otherwise. Rodrigues has already retracted his previous statement and said this is a case of wrong identity. Another lion was killed, but the authorities cannot verify its identity yet, according to CNN. 

Cecil the lion was taken from a national park in Zimbabwe and killed this July through an illegal bow-and-arrow hunt. Zimbabwean authorities are requesting for the extradition of the Minnesota dentist who killed the lion, according to Environmental Minister Oppah Muchinguri. News about a poacher shooting Jericho has sparked another social media fury Saturday.

"#CecilTheLion's brother Jericho was just killed by an illegal hunter. He had been protecting Cecil's cubs," Mia Farrow tweets after learning about the conservation group's confirmation and has been retweeted almost 500 times, the Los Angeles Times reported.

However, a researcher from the Hwange Lion Research Project that said Jericho could not have died based on his GPS tracking device. According to Brent Stapelkamp, who is closely monitoring the lion, "He looks alive and well to me as far as I can tell."

Andrew Loveridge of the Hwange Project also thinks Jericho is still alive and will attempt to obtain evidence of him. He also confirmed that Jericho and Cecil are not blood-brothers but are close allies, USA Today added.

Jericho is considered to be caring and defending about 24 cubs left by Cecil. According to David Macdonald, director of Oxford's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, some of these cubs could have been Jericho's. Males groups of lions protect the same group of lionesses in lion society.

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