Cecil The Lion’s Killer Identified: American Dentist Killed The Lion After Guide Lured Him Out Of National Park

An American dentist from Minnesota has been identified as the killer of one of Africa’s most beloved lions, Cecil. Cecil the lion was allegedly lured out of the Zimbabwe national park with bait by professional Zimbabwean hunter Theo Bronkhorst. The man was allegedly paid $55,000 by American dentist Walter J. Palmer to help him kill Cecil the lion with a bow and arrow. After killing the beloved lion, Palmer had the animal skinned and his head chopped off as a trophy. Now the Zimbabwe parks authorities are stepping in with poaching charges as Cecil the lion was collared and should have never been killed. The government claims that tourism will suffer as Cecil was loved by all those in the national park and was known as a gentle giant that frequently walked near tourists.

According to the Daily Mail, an American dentist from Minnesota, Walter J. Palmer, paid Zimbabwean hunter Theo Bronkhorst $55,000 to kill Cecil the lion with a bow and arrow. In order to make the kill, Bronkhorst allegedly lured the well-known lion from the national park with bait onto a local landowner’s property. Once on the property, Palmer shot the lion with a bow and arrow but the hit did not kill the injured lion. Instead, the pair stalked the lion for an additional two days before shooting him with a gun to finish him off.

After the kill, Bronkhorst did report the kill to authorities and a valid license was presented. However, after outrage in the community, Bronkhorst and landowner Honest Ndlovu, who owned the land Cecil was lured on to, have been charged with poaching as Cecil was a collared lion and was illegal to kill. Meanwhile, it seems that Walter J. Palmer had to return back to the U.S. without Cecil’s trophy head as the Zimbabwe park authorities claim the “trophy” was confiscated.

The Zimbabwean Parks Authority did not mention the American dentist in their statement about the incident, but did note that the hunter who was paid for the kill was responsible for the poaching charges.

“Theo Bronkhorst, a professional hunter with Bushman Safaris, is facing criminal charges for allegedly killing a collared lion on Antoinette farm in Gwayi Conservancy, Hwange district on 1 July 2015. 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.”

Emmanuel Fundira, president of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, says that the death of Cecil the lion will be a blow to tourism and lion protection in general as Cecil was the protector of several lion cubs in the park.

“Cecil was collared, indicating that he was selected for research purposes. He was popular with visitors to Hwange National Park who were fascinated by his black mane and always wanted to know his whereabouts.”

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that dentist Walter J. Palmer has been in trouble for illegal hunting. In 2008, Palmer pleaded guilty to providing “a false statement to the US Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the precise location of where he killed a black bear.” As a result, it was determined that the dentist was not licensed to kill a bear in the area and was fined $2,939 and placed on a one-year probation.

Should the American dentist Walter J. Palmer be held liable for killing the beloved Cecil the lion? Or is the park authority in Zimbabwe correct that the hunter who was paid for the hunt holds liability when an illegal animal is killed?

[Image Credit: Facebook via Daily Mail]

Note: The lion in the photo above is not Cecil. The image was taken of Walter J. Palmer on a previous lion kill.