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American doctor defends lion hunt, says he followed rules

The incident was separate from the highly publicized killing of Cecil the lion in July, a death for which Zimbabwe has sought the extradition of Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer.

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An American doctor accused of killing a lion in an illegal hunt in Zimbabwe says he did nothing wrong.

On Saturday, the wildlife authority said it had suspended hunting of lions, leopards and elephants in the Hwange area.

But the landowner, Headman Sibanda, said in a telephone interview Monday that the proper paperwork was in place for the hunt by Seski and that he did not break any laws.

“Dr. Seski urgently wishes to return to his medical practice and to continue serving his patients”, Linsin said.

When Cecil the lion’s carcass was finally found after he was lured out of a Zimbabwean wildlife reserve to be killed by an American hunter, it was a headless, skinless skeleton the vultures had been picking at for about a week. “I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt”, he wrote, explaining he “relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt”.

Seski said Tuesday in a statement issued by his attorney that he had engaged in a “lawfully permitted hunt” and that it happened in July, not April, as Zimbabwe officials had said.

The 13-year-old lion, recognizable by the black streaks in his mane, suffered a slow death, the conservation group said.

Bronkhorst was released last week on $1,000 bail after pleading not guilty to a charge of failing to prevent an illegal hunt.

The Horns of Africa Safaris website pictures a man identified as Seski posing with animals it says he killed with a bow and arrow, including a zebra, cape buffalo and ostrich.

Meanwhile, Seski was believed to be in Pittsburgh and laying low. “With results like this, no wonder Jan is a firm supporter of our Ultra-Magnum Arrow System”.

Seski said he was at home treating patients in April.

Alaska Bowhunting Supply didn’t immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment, and it wasn’t clear how the hunting supply company learned such details about the hunt.

Another hunter who knows Seski said he gives all hunters “a bad name”.

“I got chin-to-chin with him and said, ‘If I was big enough to pull the trigger, then I am going to honor it by having it mounted and be proud of it. The bear deserves that respect,”‘ Campbell recalled. “Everything he did was perfectly legal and aboveboard and a great help to our conservation efforts”. “If we do not use wildlife sustainably, there will be no wildlife”, he said.

Rebecca White, a patient of Seski’s, is speaking out on his behalf because she says the gynecological oncologist saved her life when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

The conservation model that has hunters paying for the protection of animals started in the U.S. and has been adopted around the world.

American authorities should assist foreign authorities in prosecuting anyone who kills an animal on the endangered species list or which is being considered for listing.

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“The logic is that should you hold killing them, they’ll grow to be endangered”, Menendez spokesman Steven Sandberg stated Sunday.

FILE- In this image takem from a November 2012 video made available by Paula French a well-known protected lion known as Cecil strolls around in Hwange National Park in Hwange Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's wildlife minister says extradition is being soug