Zimbabwe’s environment minister, Oppah Muchinguri, said at a news conference Friday that her government is requesting the 55-year-old Palmer’s extradition from the United States on poaching and other charges.
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Walter Palmer “had a well-orchestrated agenda which would tarnish the image of Zimbabwe and further strain the relationship between Zimbabwe and the USA”, Muchinguri said.
Palmer – who allegedly paid $55,000 for the hunt – shot the lion with a bow and arrow, then stalked the Cecil for an additional 40 hours earlier than the lion was completed off with a rifle shot.
The White House, yesterday, had said that it would review a public petition to extradite the American dentist after the signature of more than 1lakh.
Professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst, who led the hunt, appeared in court on Wednesday, but while farmer Honest Ndlovu also went to court that day, he wasn’t charged.
Authorities seeking Palmer’s extradition have described him as an accomplice to the illegal hunt.
The petition needed to receive 100,000 signatures by August 27 to get a response. I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt. “So it wasn’t his intention to kill such a famous lion”, he said. “That was never my intention”.
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A Justice Division official advised CBS Information Correspondent Paula Reid that it’s “conscious of the state of affairs” and that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is “wanting into the information” across the case.
Investigations suggest the killing of Cecil was illegal because the landowner “was not allocated a lion on his hunting quota for 2015”, said a statement from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe.
“We ask that Dr. Palmer or his representative contact us immediately”.
Palmer’s dental practice in Minnesota has been the scene of protests against Cecil’s death, with crowds leaving stuffed toys of lions, tigers and monkeys outside the building.
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Despite global media coverage of Cecil’s killing, the big cat’s untimely demise has gone largely unnoticed in, where average annual income is just over $1,000 and unemployment is higher than 80 percent.
