Zimbabwe Wants Lion-Killer Dentist Extradited as He Goes into Hiding

Cecil, lured away from a refuge and killed, was an attraction at…

Palmer is believed to have shot the lion with a bow on July 1 outside Hwange National Park, after it was lured onto private land with a carcass of an animal laid out on a vehicle, Zimbabwean conservationists have said. “We are appealing to the responsible authorities for his extradition to Zimbabwe so that he can be held accountable for his illegal actions”. “It was too late to apprehend the foreign poacher because he had already absconded to his country of origin”, Ms Muchinguri said.

The killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe by Palmer, an American dentist and trophy hunter, is being investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to see if it was part of a conspiracy to violate U.S. laws against illegal wildlife trading, a source close to the case said.

But Cecil’s killing will have an impact on the area, explained Stapelkamp, a field researcher for an Oxford University study on lions.

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

A Wisconsin dentist is dealing with angry phone calls because he has the same last name as the Minnesota dentist accused of killing a protected lion in Zimbabwe. However, if the U.S. chose not to extradite Palmer for political reasons citing Zimbabwe’s poor record, there’s not much the African nation could do about it.

Wild lions have significant roles to play in the ecosystem and are a huge draw for tourists, but the animals bred and raised for canned hunts have no conservation value.

But more than 174,000 people signed an official petition for his extradition, and an official US Fish and Wildlife Service investigation is underway.

The joint agreement between Zimbabwe and the United States, which took effect in 2000, applies to anyone charged with or convicted of “an extraditable offense”, which is defined as “one punishable under the laws of both Contracting States by deprivation of liberty for a period of more than one year or by a more severe penalty”.

Protestors gather outside Dr. Walter James Palmer’s dental office in Bloomington.

Authorities seeking Palmer’s extradition have described him as an accomplice to the illegal hunt.

So far, $470,000 has been raised, enough to fund research into lion conservation in Hwange National Park for two years, it said.

“It’s so cruel, but I don’t understand the whole fuss, there are so many pressing issues in Zimbabwe – we have water shortages, no electricity and no jobs – yet people are making noise about a lion?” said Eunice Vhunise, a Harare resident.

Zimbabwe officials said Cecil’s head and pelt had been confiscated.

In an interview with British newspaper The Telegraph, Palmer’s guide, Theo Bronkhorst, said the hunt went “wrong from the beginning”.

Jeff Flocken, the North American regional director for the global Fund for Animal Welfare, said it is unlikely that Palmer will be extradited to face charges overseas. After taking the customary pictures of a beaming killer standing atop his slaughtered “trophy”, they decapitated and skinned Cecil, leaving the rest of his body behind.