Zimbabwe’s Environment Minister, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, said on Monday that Palmer could not be charged in the country because his hunting papers were legally obtained. It had re-opened in late August without him being present with the dentist returning back to work in early September, with a sea of protesters and supporters mixed with reporters all trying to get any statements out of him. Dentist Walter Palmer Won’t Be Charged for Killing #CeciltheLion http://t.co/aV9lc0qIuu pic.twitter.com/3NNhVOs4sO – Hollywood Reporter (@THR) October 12, 2015 “He is free to come, not for hunting, but as a tourist”, Muchinguri said. Cecil reportedly was killed with a gun after 40 hours, but Palmer said the lion was tracked down the next day and killed with an arrow.
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In the months since Cecil’s killing, Palmer has received death threats and calls from residents in his Bloomington, Minn., community to leave town.
“I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favourite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt”, Palmer said after he was publicly identified as involved on Cecil’s death. There was also a petition-which garnered over 236,900 signatures-urging the USA secretary of state, John Kerry, and the attorney general, Loretta Lynch, “to fully cooperate with the Zimbabwe authorities and to extradite Walter Palmer promptly at the Zimbabwe government’s request”. The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force condemned Muchinguri-Kashiri’s decision, insisting that a crime was committed and they would consider legal action against Palmer in the US. He said he had relied on his hunting guide, Theo Bronkhorst, and a local property owner, Honest Ndlovu. Walter Palmer drew global condemnation after shooting the beloved lion near Hwange National park in western Zimbabwe.
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Bronkhorst, who denies the charges, faces a fine and up to 10 years in jail if convicted. The pressure become so bad that Palmer was forced to close his dental practice for a time. And his hunt was unsuccessful, Sky News added – the lion didn’t die right away, and had to be put down with a second arrow after officials found him.
