There are mounting calls for the prosecution of an American dentist who shot dead one of Africa’s most famous lions, as two other men involved in the hunt appeared in court in Zimbabwe to face poaching charges.Cecil the lion’s death has prompted calls to ban trophy hunt imports to the US.
Walter Palmer, who runs a dental practice in Minnesota and hunts big game in his spare time, is accused of illegally killing Cecil, a protected lion, in Zimbabwe on a $50,000 (£32,000) hunt.
Professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst, and Honest Ndlovu, a local landowner, appeared in court in Victoria Falls on Wednesday.
Cecil, a popular attraction among international visitors to Hwange national park, was lured outside the reserve’s boundaries by bait and killed earlier this month.The dentist left the lion skinned and headless on the outskirts of the park,chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force Johnny Rodrigues said.
The hunt took place around 6 July. “They went hunting at night with a spotlight and they spotted Cecil,” Rodrigues said. “They tied a dead animal to their vehicle to lure Cecil out of the park and they scented an area about half a kilometre from the park.”
The hunter first shot at Cecil with a bow and arrow but failed to kill the lion. “They tracked him down and found him 40 hours later when they shot him with a gun,” Rodrigues said.
The Minnesota dentist’s killing of Zimbabwe’s Cecil the lion just outside a national wildlife preserve has unleashed death threats and a global firestorm of hate messages on social media.
About 200 people protested on Wednesday outside the suburban Minneapolis office of Walter Palmer, 55, calling for him to be extradited to Zimbabwe to face charges.
Palmer, an avid big game hunter, said in a statement on Tuesday he regrets killing Zimbabwe’s most famous lion on July 1. He said he had hired professional local guides who secured hunting permits and believed the hunt was legal.
Cecil, was rare black-maned lion.It was fitted with a GPS collar for a research project by scientists from Oxford University and was one of the oldest and most famous lions in Zimbabwe.
Palmer temporarily closed his office in Bloomington, Minnesota, on Tuesday as criticism grew of his killing of Cecil and negative business reviews flooded Google and Yelp.Justice-thirsty Cecil fans have taken matters into their own hands to ensure Palmer is punished for killing the lion, flooding his cosmetic dentistry business’s Yelp page with vitriolic reviews and comments.
I would blame the US dentist 30%. It was and it is wrong to hunt for fun. But I would blame the local authorities (wildlife managers, govt laws on hunting) 70%. If the laws didn’t allow hunting for fun (killing big cats), the Dentist would not have left US to come down to Zimbabwe. This was not secret poaching. So the local authorities are 70% or even 90% to blame. Let all those pointing fingers at the US Dentist also put the blame on those local authorities. Let the locals take responsibility for accepting bribes. Had they refused the bribe and strict laws were in place, the lion would be alive even today in the park.
HH told us, we can make much more money from taking photographs of these animals than killing them. Moreover, the numbers by Jean Kapata are flawed. We only have 400 Lions. Cecil, sadly is the tale of the lion that died after so called safe measure were put in place. For crying out loud, he had a tracking collar..Cimbwi No Plan=PF
See how civilized society protects its animals. Yet we have some demwitt of a minister (Jean kapata) put a target on the remaining 400 lions in Zambia just to raise money for the budget deficit.
She could save tones of money by having her boss (Lungu) stay in the office for a change and not roam aimlessly every week from country to country, province to province and town to town at tax payers expense.
@napapa sana what utter nonsense, ofcourse the Dentist is to blame.Our African governments are controlled by the West whether we like it or not and they in essence make our rules.Lets not be deceived.Our leaders depend on the good will of the West that they will do everything to appease them,even keep some colonial rules.The day the West decides Lion hunting should be banned in Africa,it will be banned.Nothing to do with local government or wildlife organisations.
@ God help us, your statement is so true
Where is that stupid PF Minister of Tourism to comment on this? What Zambia was trying to do is disastrous?? Lions are Endangered and yet our so called PF fools want to finish them by Trophy hunting?
There are so many other ways we can raise resources to protect / develop these national parks, but not through Killing the same Animals.
Wake up Jean not just talking rubbish just because you heard someone talking about it? Same mistakes Chiluba made with Privatizations, let alone closure of Zambia Airways.
@Maharaji, before you spit out the word “nonsense” read and understand my comment. And please stick to the issue at hand, which is: killing of Big Cats. I don’t like your approach of generalising. Do you have any proof that its the West that passes a law in Zimbabwe to allow hunting of big cats? Or indeed, which West commanded Jean Kapata to lift the ban in Zambia? You can’t load all the failures of local authorities on the West. When you make poor laws and you fail, take the blame. Learn to take responsibility, otherwise you will die crying and blaming the West for your worst situation.
?Maharaji, there is a time for everything. Now is not the time for me to spew vitriol towards your thinking. I shall let the other LT bloggers do that. I hope they know exactly where am going with this. The US got Obama as president. Thailand developed due to fighting as a people. If you are not Zambian or African enough, please shut the F*&^%$k up.
African, please guard your resources! Stop selling your assets.
Yaba some people don’t listen to international news.The lion was in a protected reserve, it also was collard with a tracker by a university in the UK for a scientific study. This rogue lured it out of it’s reserve with a bait.He then shot it with an arrow, finally finished the kill with a gun shot in the head. The lion had a pride, so which means next lion will kill the Cubs.
We need to stop thinking about wildlife as our resource. We just share this planet with them and we should respect that they also have lives to live and enjoy. In the abundance of water, the sun, minerals, etc., do we honestly need to make resources out of innocent wild animals, let alone those who are endangered? Is this what it means to be an image of God?
I’m equally outraged and exasperated about it. We have been saying “No!” to such wicked acts and yet our government doesn’t seem to be listening. I hope they get it now.
Africa is NOT for sale! Not it’s people and not it’s animals!!!
They won’t get it! Never! They are too full of themselves.
They won’t listen to a mere voter, their passion is driven by greed (money).
A lust for more money is why they have put a target on the remaining 400 lions in Zambia.
It saddens me. The your comment and the first are absolutely true. I watch BBC, Al jazeera and CAN. I see white guides, white hunters white wildlife experts and white protesters. This is OUR land OUR heritage what is our role? Where is rage?
Its people have already been sold but they do not know yet,a new colonial time has started.
HH told us, we can make much more money from taking photographs of these animals than killing them. Moreover, the numbers by Jean Kapata are flawed. We only have 400 Lions. Cecil, sadly is the tale of the lion that died after so called safe measure were put in place. For crying out loud, he had a tracking collar..Cimbwi No Plan=PF
The hunting of big cats should be banned in all countries. This is just ONE incident that has caught the media. How many others are there?
Our govt should be ashamed of itself in allowing this practice.
And our dull ministers states she will only allow 2 lions in each park to be murdered forgetting that these trophy hunting pigs go for the biggest lion with the biggest mane which happens to be protecting a large pride with cubs…from takeover from rival males.
Whats stopping hunting lowering the lion out of the park?
He should have gone to Zambia for hunting. Hunting is allowed only if you are a RICH FOREIGNER, while locals are are not even allowed to hunt for food.
No local eats lion wake up as for the west controlling the hunting of big cat that’s also rubbish, its the corrupt African politicians and citizens that make it happen. How many black Africans were protesting him shooting the lion? Its easy to just blame the whites for everything negative. get a life
Jean Kapata you have heard and you have read. Just because you don’t like Masebo you are hell-bent on undoing all the good things she left. She is much smarter than you and you know that. Stop this rubbish of hunting big cats for fun.
It’ s really outrageous to hear how the poor Cecil was killed by the Greedy Palmer. I absolutely agrre with subsribers that hunting must be banned only if the animals pause a danger to humankind.
Kapata and Lungu must stop the rot in Zambia for lifting the ban on hunting of alreday depleted species such as lions and leopards. The PF government seems to have no idea on how they can raise revenue.
I urge all Zambians to stand up and fight injustices such as trophy hunting and corruption. Go onto the street and domonstrate for the good of the country.
The people in the US are demonstrating and back in Zimbabwe, nothing heard of. Is it luck of love for wild animals or luck of education?
If only that empty tin Kapata can read and write..
I believe we’ve become so used to this image of the black man as predator that we are forever ruined by this brainwashing. In my first film, Roger & Me, a white woman on social security clubs a rabbit to death so that she can sell him as “meat” instead of as a pet. I wish I had a nickel for every time in the past 10 years that someone has come up to me and told me how “horrified” they were when they saw that “poor little cute bunny” bonked on the head. The scene, they say, made them physically sick. The Motion Picture Association of America gave Roger & Me an R [18] rating in response to that rabbit killing. Teachers write to me and say they have to edit that part out of the film, if they want to show it to their students.
(continued below)
“But less than two minutes after the bunny lady does her deed, I included footage of a scene in which police in Flint, Michigan, shot a black man who was wearing a Superman cape and holding a plastic toy gun. Not once – not ever – has anyone said to me, “I can’t believe you showed a black man being shot in your movie! How horrible! How disgusting! I couldn’t sleep for weeks.” After all, he was just a black man, not a cute, cuddly bunny. The ratings board saw absolutely nothing wrong with that scene. Why? Because it’s normal, natural. We’ve become so accustomed to seeing black men killed – in the movies and on the evening news – that we now accept it as standard operating procedure. No big deal! That’s what blacks do – kill and die. Pass the butter.” – Michael Moore’s book…
It’s a damn lion, for pete’s sake!
How about having the same level of outrage over the continued killing of unarmed blacks by police across the USA?
This is outrage my dear. There are protests and their are arrests.
meant There are* Also Major Corporations are stopping the selling of hateful merchandise. Are our African leaders stopping the selling of our lands and Animals for profit to China? No! protest that.
Grow up or stay offline. People protest injustices against blacks. Blacks, whites, lions, are all the same in having interests that no one should wantonly violate. In fact the killing of the more vulnerable should be protested more than that of the less vulnerable. Justice for all!
It is amazing that there is widespread outrage in the western world over ‘Cecil’ when Zimbabweans don’t even know he existed! You never cease to amaze me you brainwashed chaps.
Soooo much noise over the killing of a Lion. Silence over the killing of black people. Yaba. First the world paid lip service to kidnapped Nigerian school girls by yelling ” Bring Back our girls” for one week then they were forgotten. US police keep shooting black people everyday just read this:
Why do US police keep killing unarmed black men? – BBC …
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I think people don’t realize what animals bring to the tourism industry. This is especially for Jean Kapata and Steven Mwansa someone pass it alone. Animals like the Victoria Falls our famous attraction are what bring visitors to our destination. Animals especially lions are our assets so taking away that asset get’s rid of tourism. That lion brings the visitor who spends money on hotels, food, fees to the game parks etc. That money generates the multiplier effect and creates jobs and government pays salaries. Tourism has 3 aspects, environmental, social-cultural and economic and cannot work without one. Environment the lions, social cultural is the people and economic is the revenue. If managed properly by people with the right skills and education, tourism can alleviate poverty.
An interesting concept I have from doing my bachelors degree in tourism. Simply put it is rapping Africa of it’s resources. This is the same as terrorism. Terrorists cripple a nations tourism resources as we saw in France, UK, Kenya, Tunisia, Egypt etc. Only this kind is individuals with finances who are capable of doing such heinous acts. We need to stop them, the same way governments are trying to stop terrorism. We should all take a stand and say no, this is unacceptable behaviour. Sign all petitions and hold people responsible accountable for their actions. The dentist who killed Cecil, I doubt he will work again. And even if he does, his life has taken a drastic turn and he and his rich family will never be the same again. Let’s continue to expose these people! It’s our Africa!
Well you cannot have it both ways guys, this man was invited to Africa by Africans and he paid $50,000 to Africans to shoot an African lion, and now people are saying it’s entirely his fault that he got the wrong one? He was invited and guided to the shooting spot please
Peter 90 you need to understand something before you make judgement. This industry is raping Africa of it’s resources. Owners are mainly based in the UK, Canada, USA or Germany meaning the people who organize these trophy hunting. The money does not benefit our economies and most of the revenue is already paid to these owners before hunters leave their destinations. The transaction has already taken place and paid in US or pounds to the basungu’s who own these businesses abroad. What benefit is it to Africa? They then hire wildlife people or guides in Africa paid in Kwacha to help lure these animals. Which economy is the money really benefiting? This is “LEAKAGE” the money is going back to where these hunters are from. Real reason tourism does not work in Africa because of management.
@Peter 90. If you want solid proof just Google: Hunting in Zambia and click on a website. Once you get on a site click on contact. You will see most are internationally owned but not by an African or an African country (maybe South Africa). This is just like the Copper days. Our resources were busy being shipped elsewhere. Even though we owned it, other countries benefited greatly. Let’s not continue making the same mistakes in 2015 and after 50 years of independence. As the term goes: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!
Yes Macro student,but whos fault is it ?
@Macro Student, I have worked in the travel and tourism industry for over 23 years and I have had the opportunity to see the world and compare how different concepts and models operate. I am sorry to say this that Africa’s tourism doesn’t benefit Africans but westerners. That is why the west if vigorously preaching conservation, to protect the ‘udder’ where they get the milk.
@Mr. X finally someone who gets it! Sharing knowledge and helping people understand is key. What I have come to know is a lot of Zambian’s in the diaspora in the travel and tourism industry have actually applied or asked the minister of tourism and arts if they can share their contributions. Students have asked to volunteer for 6 months to share what they’ve learnt from the universities abroad. They have sent countless emails and CV’s. To this date no one from the tourism management in Zambia has ever replied back nor shown interest. It’s a shame and something that can benefit Zambia. This is why other nations continue to benefit from Africa’s resources. Why would the USA or Europe be advertising “Trophy Hunting in Zambia? They have rates and dates on their websites. Food for…