‘He conducted his hunt in good faith and now he is being treated as if he is some criminal, ‘ Landowner Headman Sibanda said from his safari area near Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.
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This picture taken in November 2012 shows Cecil the lion strolling around in Hwange National Park, in Hwange, Zimbabwe.
Theo Bronkhorst, who runs a safari company, denies any wrongdoing over the hunt in early July when Walter Palmer, a dentist from the American state of Minnesota, paid $55,000 (50,000 euros) to shoot the lion with a bow and arrow.
Dr. Seski, a gynecologic oncologist and surgeon, is an independent private practice physician, but has attending privileges at Forbes, Allegheny General and West Penn hospitals, all part of the Allegheny Health Network.
Palmer, a veteran big-game hunter, insists that he had secured the necessary hunting permits, unaware at the time that his target was the most famous lion in Africa.
Bronkhorst, who was charged this week with “failing to prevent an illegal hunt”, said Palmer had taken a photograph with Cecil’s body – and claimed both he and the dentist had been “devastated” when they realised Cecil was wearing a collar.
Ernest Hahn, a neighbor of Seski in a rural area near Pittsburgh, told the Associated Press that Seski posted no-trespassing signs, breaking a local tradition of people feeling free to cross property lines to hunt.
The professional hunter is not the only Zimbabwean disputing government allegations that he assisted in an illegal hunt in recent months.
He added big game hunters would only be allowed if “authorised in writing by the Director-General of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority”. Zimbabwe also has not requested his extradition.
Dr. Seski did travel to Zimbabwe in July of this year and participated in a lawfully permitted hunt.
Two Zimbabwean citizens were arrested and face charges in the case in which Palmer has been implicated.
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Hahn stated Seski may be “quirky”, strolling round sporting a low-slung pistol “like a gunslinger”, for instance, however he appreciates that his neighbor is defending land from improvement. “Everything was done aboveboard”. “I’ve by no means seen him executed something unlawful or unsportsmanlike in any respect”. “He looks alive and well to me as far as I can tell”, Brent Stapelkamp said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is also investigating the incident.
