Zimbabwe wants Walter Palmer, in Cecil the lion killing, extradited

But a Minneapolis dentist and lifelong trophy hunter killed the big cat in Zimbabwe earlier this month.

In a news conference, Muchinguri referred to 55-year-old Walter Palmer as a “foreign poacher” and said she understood that Zimbabwe’s prosecutor general had started the process to have him extradited from the United States. Zimbabwean authorities have already arrested Palmer’s hunting guide and the owner of the land where the lion was shot, after details suggested the hunt was illegal. His clinic’s website, which is no longer online, said he enjoys outdoor activities and, “Anything allowing him to stay active and observe and photograph wildlife is where you will find Dr. Palmer when he not in the office”.

About 50,000 visitors – half of them from overseas – visit the Hwange park every year, and Cecil was a much-photographed star attraction.

In the Zimbabwean government’s first official comment on the killing the lion, the environment, water and climate minister lashed out at Palmer, accusing him even of trying to hurt Zimbabwe’s image.

In an email obtained by WCCO, Palmer wrote a letter to his patients, saying, “I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion”.

Zimbabwe is calling for the extradition of Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist who shot and killed Cecil, a beloved Zimbabwe lion.

Meanwhile, Safari Club worldwide, an global hunting organization that Palmer belonged to, said it also supported a probe and that it had revoked his membership.

“The US Fish & Wildlife Service is investigating the circumstances surrounding the killing of Cecil the lion”, said Mr Edward Grace, its deputy chief of law enforcement. The hunter who accompanied him told the The Daily Telegraph the pair had been “devastated” when they realised Cecil was wearing a radio collar because he was part of an academic study by Oxford University. The dentist also maintained that he thought the hunt was legal. A We the People petition to extradite Palmer to Zimbabwe has already received more than 170,000 signatures and the promise of an official response by the White House.

He noted it would be up to the Justice Department to respond to an extradition order.

So far, $470,000 has been raised, enough to fund research into lion conservation in Hwange National Park for two years, WildCRU said. If Palmer is charged in the U.S. for the same crime, he would not be extradited, but would tried in U.S. courts instead of in Zimbabwe, he said.

“ZANU PF [Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front] is saddened by the killing of our treasure – Cecil the lion”, Gadzira Chirumhanzu, spokesman for Zimbabwe’s ruling party, told Mic.