US
dentist accused of killing Cecil the lion 'upset' as hunter becomes
hunted
As
Zimbabwean police say he faces poaching charges, Minnesota dentist
Walter Palmer faces furious criticism on social media
Walter Palmer (left)
and one of his previous trophy kills.
Walter Palmer
(left) and one of his previous trophy kills. Photograph: facebook
Jessica Glenza in
New York, Ashifa Kassam in Madrid and David Smith, Africa
correspondent
Tuesday 28 July 2015
21.38 BST /
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/28/walter-palmer-dentist-accused-killing-cecil-lion-upset-hunter-zimbabwe
Who shot Cecil?
First it was thought that a mystery Spaniard had the blood of one of
Africa’s most famous lions on his hands. Then came a fresh twist.
The Cecil slayer, Zimbabwean conservations said on Tuesday, was in
fact a dentist from Minnesota.
American Walter
Palmer was said to be “quite upset” as the hunter became hunted.
Zimbabwean police warned that he faced poaching charges, while there
was a furious backlash on social media, with Facebook users variously
calling for him to be publicly shamed, have his teeth pulled out
without anaesthetic or be hunted and killed.
Cecil the lion,
known for his black mane, was about 13 years old and a famous
attraction for wildlife tourists in Zimbabwe until, earlier this
month, he was tempted outside a national park using bait and shot
with a bow and arrow. He is believed to have taken 40 hours to die.
In a statement to
the Guardian, Palmer confirmed he had been in Zimbabwe in early July
on a bow hunting trip. “I hired several professionals and they
secured all proper permits,” said Palmer. “To my knowledge,
everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and
conducted.
“I had no idea
that the lion I took was a known, local favourite, was collared and
part of a study until the end of the hunt,” he said. “I relied on
the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal
hunt.”
Palmer, who is from
Eden Prairie, just outside of Minneapolis, said he had not been
contacted by authorities – either in Zimbabwe or the US – about
the situation, but was willing to answer any questions they might
have for him.
“I deeply regret
that my pursuit of an activity that I love and practice responsibly
and legally resulted in the taking of this lion,” he said.
The Zimbabwe
Conservation Task Force charity had initially suggested the culprit
had been from Spain but on Tuesday named him as Palmer. This was
later confirmed by police.
The charity’s
chairman, Johnny Rodrigues, alleged that Palmer and professional
hunter Theo Bronkhorst had gone hunting at night and tied a dead
animal to their vehicle to lure Cecil out of Hwange national park.
“Palmer shot Cecil
with a bow and arrow but this shot didn’t kill him,” he said.
“They tracked him down and found him 40 hours later when they shot
him with a gun. The hunters then found that the dead lion was wearing
a tracking collar, which they unsuccessfully tried to hide.”
Cecil was wearing a
GPS collar as part of a research project that Oxford University has
been running since 1999, making it possible to trace his last
movements.
Rodrigues added:
“Cecil was skinned and beheaded … Walter Palmer apparently paid
$50,000 for the kill and we assume Theo Bronkhorst received this
money.”
Initially his
organisation had said the whereabouts of Cecil’s head was unknown,
sparking concerns that it would be sent abroad as a trophy. But on
Tuesday Rodrigues said the head of the lion had been located in
Zimbabwe and impounded to be used as evidence in the investigation.
“The saddest part
of all is that now that Cecil is dead, the next lion in the
hierarchy, Jericho, will most likely kill all Cecil’s cubs so that
he can insert his own bloodline into the females.”
Palmer – married
with two children and thought to be in his 50s – became a target as
the Facebook page of his dental clinic was flooded with angry
comments and threats. An online petition demanding justice for Cecil
had gathered more than 12,000 signatures. An Associated Press
reporter approached his clinic in the Minneapolis suburb of
Bloomington but was told he was not seeing patients on Tuesday.
A spokesman for
Palmer said the hunter was “obviously quite upset over everything”,
adding: “As far as I understand, Walter believes that he might have
shot the lion that has been referred to as Cecil.
Palmer’s love of
hunting is well documented online. In 2009, he was interviewed by the
New York Times about his slaying of an elk that was touted as a kill
for the archery record books.
Noting that Palmer
had learned to shoot at age five and was “capable of skewering a
playing card from 100 yards with his compound bow,” the article
said he had paid $45,000 at auction to take part in the hunt, with
the proceeds being used to help fund the elk habitat.
As the hunting
season began, Palmer was on probation for lying to authorities over
the exact location where he had killed a black bear in northern
Wisconsin in 2006.
A 2008 Flickr photo
album by Trophy Hunt America and Porcupine Creek Outfitters, a
company that leads hunting expeditions, shows Palmer posing next to a
variety of slain animals, including a wood bison and a lion. In other
online photos Palmer sits next to a slain rhino – the caption
stating that the photo was taken in South Africa – or holds up a
175-pound leopard in Zimbabwe.
Emmanuel Fundira,
president of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, called for
Palmer to be prosecuted as a criminal. “Cecil was a collared lion,
a protected species,” he said.
“The rules are
clear in Zimbabwe that no protected lions should be hunted. The
American members of our association are encouraged to conduct
themselves in a way that is beyond reproach. We are using hunting as
a conservation tool, but when the tool is abused in this way, it
destroys the whole principle.”
He added: “The
culprits should be brought to book and punished at the highest level.
This is really reckless.”
Cecil’s death is
yet another blow to Zimbabwe’s economy, which is teetering under
president Robert Mugabe. Fundira said: “We are extremely saddened.
Cecil was a drawcard, well-known in the industry. Travellers came
from all over the world for the experience and it’s been taken
away.
“If you imagine
the amount being talked about as changing hands, $50,000, the country
has been short-changed. An iconic animal like that is worth much more
in the long term. It’s a huge loss and people are grieving.”
The Zimbabwean Parks
& Wildlife Authority said Bronkhorst and the local landowner,
Honest Ndlovu, will appear in court in Victoria Falls on Wednesday to
face poaching charges.
“Both the
professional hunter and land owner had no permit or quota to justify
the offtake of the lion and therefore are liable for the illegal
hunt,” it added.
If convicted, the
men face up to 15 years in prison. Palmer also faces poaching
charges, according to police spokeswoman Charity Charamba. “We
arrested two people and now we are looking for Palmer in connection
with the same case,” she said.
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