The authority that licensed the lion trophy hunt which became the focus of a parliamentary inquiry last week has been at pains to assure everyone it was not the pride male named Skye. It seems to have just scored an own goal.

It was the wrong picture and probably the wrong dead lion. The Mpumalanga authority, which licensed the Umbabat Reserve trophy hunt, showed Parliament two pictures last week. The live one, they said, was Skye, but it definitely wasn't. The dead one, they said, was the hunted lion and not Skye, but its markings indicate that it most likely was.

A high-definition rendering of Skye - who was often photographed by tourists - and the dead lion show the same distinctive marks below the left eye and the same nose scratches.

Analysing facial scars and eye markings on the picture presented to Parliament, Jason Turner, an independent ecologist with 20 years experience in identifying lions, found the facial markings on the dead lion to be "identical with those of the pride male named Skye".

He added: "The ideal way to identify lions is by whisker spot pattern. The MTPA (Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Authority) photo was of very poor...