Killer of Cecil the lion should be extradited, Zimbabwe says

Palmer has admitted to killing the lion but said he believed everything about the hunt was legal and that he was simply following the directions of his guides.

Palmer is now in hiding after being named as the hunter who shot Cecil, a beloved Zimbabwe lion who was lured from his home in the protected Hwange National Park and shot.

“It was too late to apprehend the foreign poacher because he had already absconded to his country of origin”, Mr Muchinguri said.

Cecil, about 13 years old and a favorite of local wildlife lovers, was reportedly lured out of its park and killed earlier this month, the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF) wrote.

The US government, meanwhile, has opened its own probe into the hunt.

Earlier this week came the news that Cecil had been killed by American trophy hunter Walter Palmer.

A public relations professional released a statement Tuesday from Palmer, who said he was with professional guides and thought the hunt was legal.

On Thursday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) said it launched an investigation and wanted to speak with him.

The lion cubs left fatherless in Zimbabwe by the cruel killing of 13-year-old jungle beast Cecil are surviving in the wild under the watchful eye of their uncle.

“I have not been contacted by authorities in Zimbabwe or in the US about this situation, but will assist them in any inquiries they may have”, he added. “We have certain processes we have to follow”, she said at the offices of the national parks and wildlife authority.

Hundreds of thousands of people have signed a petition asking the US to extradite Palmer.

The video was created by the weekly satirical news show So That Happened and is a morbid reimagining of Cecil’s death, as told through The Lion King. That Cecil’s carcass was found without its pelt and head speaks of the egotistical nature of Palmer in taking his highly-prized and highly-priced trophy.

The southern African country has blamed its economic woes on U.S. sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and close associates, though many commentators have attributed Zimbabwe’s economic decline to mismanagement.

Zimbabwe outfitter Theo Bronkhorst has been charged with “failing to supervise, control and take reasonable steps to prevent an unlawful hunt”, and is now out on bail.

Palmer, a Minnesota dentist, hasn’t returned emails from The Associated Press.

“Both I and the client were extremely devastated that this thing had a collar on because at no time did we see a collar on this lion prior to shooting it”.