Cecil lion hunt guide: Charges are frivolous and wrong

The US dentist who killed a lion in Zimbabwe had done nothing wrong and was a “good man”, AFP quotes the hunter who led the expedition as saying.

HWANGE, Zimbabwe (AP) – The trial of a professional hunter who helped an American kill a popular lion named Cecil in an allegedly illegal hunt in Zimbabwe has been postponed to September 28.

He is believed to have paid about $50,000 (£32,000) to hunt down Cecil, a major tourist attraction at Hwange National Park – Zimbabwe’s largest game reserve.

“I feel sorry for my client (Palmer)”.

Palmer, an experienced trophy hunter, has become the target of vicious abuse and death threats over the killing, and has been in hiding since demonstrations outside his dental practice.

Palmer apologised for killing Cecil, who was renowned for his distinctive black mane, and appeared to blame Bronkhorst for misleading him.

But Bronkhorst says he’s innocent of all charges and had obtained the permits required to kill an elderly lion that was outside the national park boundaries. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison. He was ordered to surrender his passport and report three times a week to his local police station.

Zimbabwean authorities have launched a crackdown on illegal hunting.

Mr Bronkhorst attacked the legal proceedings: “I think it’s frivolous and I think it’s wrong”.

Meanwhile, Theo Bronkhorst, the hunting guide charged over the lion’s killing told NBC News Wednesday he had never heard of the animal before the incident, and that there would have been no outrage had it been “any other lion”.

“It has probably changed my family’s life, my business, forever…”

“As far as we are concerned, we uphold the highest levels of ethics in terms of hunting”, he said.

“If you cannot have a sustainable offtake of wildlife, you’re not going to have wildlife”.

Zimbabwe has called for the extradition of Palmer to face trial for poaching.