Zimbabwe seeks second American ‘lion killer’

Zimbabwe is seeking the extradition of American dentist Walter Palmer, who is accused – along with at least two others – of illegally hunting the lion, authorities said.

The authority said Seski killed the lion – without approval – with a bow and arrow on land where it was not allowed, near Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, according to the Associated Press.

The alleged “foreign poacher” has also reportedly received multiple death threats and messages like, “Let the hunter be hunted” from some protesters.

Jan C. Seski saw patients in his Oakland office this morning and declined to speak with reporters.

13-year-old lion Cecil was said to have been tempted outside of the park using bait on July 1.

Palmer’s guide in the hunt that killed Cecil, Theo Bronkhorst, told NBC News on Tuesday that he did nothing wrong.

Wildlife authorities have halted the hunting of big cats and elephants around Hwange National Park.

Zimbabwe also contends that a Pennsylvania physician, Dr. Jan C. Seski of Westmoreland County, illegally killed a lion in April. Often such hunts are in preserves, with animals raised for the objective and confined in relatively small areas until they are killed.

While harassing and publicly shaming Palmer may make the odd rich hunters think twice about the public repercussions of being seen as a trophy hunter, it’s not going to help wildlife as a whole.

The officials said landowner Headman Sibanda, who runs Nyala Safaris, has been arrested and is cooperating with police.

On Saturday afternoon, The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force reported that Jericho was shot and killed.

“He conducted his hunt in good faith and now he is being treated as if he is some criminal”, Sibanda said.

But it was not entirely clear from a Zimbabwe Parks authorities statement if hunting has been suspended entirely. His death brought widespread condemnation of Palmer, and the practice of hunting lions and other big game trophy in general and prompted Zimbabwe to demand his extradition. Ernest Hahn stated Seski put up no-trespassing indicators, breaking the agricultural space’s custom of individuals feeling free to cross property strains to hunt.

“It seemed to me everything he does is aboveboard”, Hahn said.

He said he didn’t even know about the uproar over Cecil when he started getting calls on his cell phone from a man in Iowa last Wednesday.