Prosecutors seek to extradite dentist in killing of Cecil the lion

“We are … appealing to the responsible authorities for his extradition to Zimbabwe so that he be made accountable for his illegal actions”, Oppah Muchinguri, Zimbabwe’s Environmental Minister, said Friday during a statement to the press.

Prosecutors in Zimbabwe announced today that they plan to seek extradition of a Minnesota dentist who killed a protected lion during a paid hunt.

“She said both Palmer and professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst violated the Parks and Wildlife Act, which controls the use of bow and arrow hunting”. The authority said it only received information this week about the possibly illegal killing of a lion in April.

Officials have said that Dr. Walter Palmer was unreachable.

Palmer is believed to have shot the lion with a bow on July 1 outside Hwange National Park after it was lured onto private land with a carcass of an animal, Zimbabwean conservationists have said. Walter and his hunting party tracked Cecil until they found the wounded lion about 40 hours later, and finished him off. He was later found headless and skinned. LEGAL, POLITICAL HURDLES Lawyer Alec Muchadehama said no American had been extradited to Zimbabwe since the treaty was signed, and that Harare would face legal and political hurdles with Palmer. We have certain processes we have to follow, ‘ Muchinguri said at the offices of the national parks and wildlife authority.

The agency is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of the lion, named Cecil. Two Zimbabweans – a professional hunter and a farm owner – have been arrested in the lion killing that garnered worldwide condemnation.

Hwange is favored by hunters because of its teeming wildlife, Matipano said.

“I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt”, Palmer said, as reported by CBS.

The head of Zimbabwe’s Safari Operators Association, Emmanuel Fundira, said the new restrictions would hit earnings from hunting, which generated $45 million in 2014. The landowner violated the act because he ‘allowed a hunt to be conducted without a quota and necessary permit, ‘ Muchinguri said.

A report on the Facebook page of an advocacy group called the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said Jericho was killed Saturday and that it would provide more details when they were available.

Stapelkamp says Cecil befriended Jericho.