Zimbabwe: US lion killer’s extradition being sought

The environment minister of Zimbabwe has called for the Minnesota dentist accused of illegally killing Cecil the lion to be extradited from the United States to face trial for paying for an unlawful hunt.

She said she understood the Prosecutor-General had started the process to have him extradited from the US.

He said in a statement issued by a publicist early this week that he had hired professional guides and believed the necessary hunting permits were in order.

The discovery that Cecil, the star of Zimbabwe national park, had been lured out and killed by American bow hunter and dentist Walter James Palmer has resulted in online anger and protests at his dental clinic.

Shortly afterwards Palmer was forced into hiding due to worldwide outrage over his killing of Cecil, one of Africa’s most famous big cats.

The director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Dan Ashe, tweeted a request for Palmer’s cooperation as they independently investigate the death of Cecil.

” “[Palmer] had a well-orchestrated agenda which would tarnish the image of Zimbabwe and further strain the relationship between Zimbabwe and the U.S.A. The professional Zimbabwean guide who organized the killing of Cecil the lion has been charged with ” failing to prevent an illegal hunt”.

Two Zimbabwean men have been implicated in the death of the lion. 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 Zimbabwes economic decline to mismanagement.

He says, “In calling for wildlife crime to be treated as a serious crime, both nationally and across borders, the resolution sends a clear signal to organized criminal networks involved in this illicit trafficking that their time will soon be up. We want him tried in Zimbabwe because he violated our laws” said Muchinguri, as quoted in the Portland Press Herald.

Extradition is also being sought for the lion killer, Zimbabwe’s wildlife minister revealed. In Zimbabwe, the illegal killing of a lion is punishable by a mandatory fine of $20,000 and up to 10 years in prison.

Only animals that have been put on an annual hunting quota by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management can be killed within a private hunting concession and government-controlled safari areas – but never in a national park.

“If he contests extradition”, Ohlin said, “I would think he would probably lose his case, but there are a lot of creative arguments his lawyers could make”. Since its release, however, it has received almost double the amount of signatures – 170,000 in total – by Friday morning.