A Minnesota dentist who experienced a global backlash after killing Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe is expected to return to work Tuesday after more than a month out of the public eye.
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With his consultant, Joe Friedberg, at his side, Palmer said in a joint interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Associated Press that he now needed to resume his duties as a health professional at his River Bluff Dental Practice. “I need to get back to treating my patients”.
She scoffed at Palmer’s suggestion in his interview with the AP that protesters had unfairly targeted his employees and family, in some cases threatening violence. Cecil was killed for nothing more than his skin and his head. Palmer, who has several big-game kills to his name, reportedly paid thousands of dollars for the guided hunt.
He said: “If I had known this lion had a name and was important to the country or a study obviously I wouldn’t have taken it”. For the half a dozen demonstrators here, Cecil the Lion has become a poster child.
The collar is visible in Palmer’s picture taken with the freshly killed lion and was later found, after Palmer and his hired crew allegedly tried to hide it, as previously reported by HNGN.
One read: “Lance Armstrong had his “trophies” taken away”. The 55-year-old dentist parked across the street from his practice and “strode toward” the building, the Star Tribune says, noting he smiled, but didn’t say anything to the people outside. Despite claims that the dentist would be held accountable for the lion’s death, authorities have yet to have sought the extradition of the dentist.
The guide, Theo Bronkhorst, and the property owner, Honest Trymore Ndlovu, have been charged with participating in an illegal hunt and could face prison if convicted. Famed wild animal researcher Jane Goodall said she was “shocked and outraged” by Palmer’s “incomprehensible” act.
“As far as our commitment to the scene, we will simply be here to accommodate traffic flow and make sure this isn’t a disruption to the people who work and live in the area”, said Mike Hartley of the Bloomington Police Department.
Protesters, among them children in lion costumes, swarmed Palmer’s shuttered Bloomington dental office the day after Cecil’s death was revealed.
The dental practice was shut down amid all the commotion, later reopening but with Palmer still absent. “We want him to know that we’re not going to forget”.
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Pursuing Palmer without a concrete case could rattle potential big-paying customers from the United States, which along with Germany and Spain is where most of the country’s hunting clients come from. “The media should back down and let this thing be settled in the foreign courts if that’s what needs to happen”.
