Zimbabwe moves to extradite Cecil the lion’s killer

Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans had called for Palmer’s extradition on social media, according to Muchinguri.

“The Department of Justice then presents the request to a US court that determines whether the individual is extraditable, and then after those judicial proceedings have been completed, it’s the secretary of state who makes the final decision on whether to extradite an individual to another country”, Toner said.

Dr. Walter Palmer is being hounded by animal lovers who have been protesting against him for killing “Ceil the lion” in Zimbabwe.

“The US Fish & Wildlife Service is investigating the circumstances surrounding the killing of Cecil the lion”, said Edward Grace, deputy chief of law enforcement at the agency.

The Minister says Cecil was illegally hunted earlier this month, when he was lured out of the Hwange National Park.

Emmanuel Fundira, chairman of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, said his association could lose business as a result of the new hunting ban, but added that the measures were necessary to protect wildlife.

Now both hunter and hunted, Palmer has ventured into a legal thicket that’s nearly certainly darker than he ever could have imagined. First shot by an arrow, Cecil was later tracked, finished off with a rifle and beheaded.

What the U.S. can’t do is determine Palmer’s guilt or innocence, said Stephen I. Vladeck, a law professor specializing in worldwide affairs at American University in Washington, D.C.

“Unfortunately it was too late to apprehend the foreign poacher as he had already absconded to his country of origin”, a Zimbabwean government minister said Friday, adding that authorities there were “appealing to the responsible authorities for his extradition to Zimbabwe so that he be made accountable”. She said Palmer, who reportedly paid $50,000 (£32,000) to hunt the lion, violated the act through financing an illegal hunt. And he will be bringing in no more money for conservation. If convicted, Bronkhorst faces up to 15 years of time in prison. “But of course there is a lot of trophy hunting which is not necessarily well managed, and that can be extremely detrimental and have a very negative impact on [animal] populations”.

Prosecutors have yet to charge a 2nd suspect, farm owner Honest Ndlovu, who had been named as an accomplice and appeared in court Wednesday.

There is an extradition treaty between Zimbabwe and the United States.