Zimbabwe will not charge U.S. dentist for killing Cecil the lion

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/12/us-zimbabwe-wildlife-dentist-idUSKCN0S61G320151012

Zimbabwe will not charge American dentist Walter Palmer for killing its most prized lion in July because he had obtained legal authority to conduct the hunt, a Cabinet minister said on Monday, angering conservationists.

Palmer, a lifelong big-game hunter from Minnesota, touched off a global controversy when he killed Cecil, a rare black-maned lion, with a bow and arrow outside Hwange National Park in Western Zimbabwe.

Environment Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said on Monday that Palmer's hunting papers were in order, and therefore he could not be charged.

"We approached the police and then the prosecutor general, and it turned out that Palmer came to Zimbabwe because all the papers were in order," Muchinguri-Kashiri told reporters.

Muchinguri-Kashiri said Palmer would be free to visit Zimbabwe as a tourist in the future but not as a hunter. The implication was that Palmer would not be issued the permits a hunter needs.

The environment minister's comments immediately drew the ire of the animal conservation group Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, which maintained that Palmer had committed a crime and said it planned to pursue legal action against him in the United States.

Palmer could not be reached for comment on the environment minister's statement to reporters.

The 55-year-old dentist had closed his practice in late July after he was publicly identified as the hunter who killed Cecil, drawing widespread criticism on social media and a large demonstration by animal rights advocates at his office in Bloomington, Minnesota, a Minneapolis suburb.

The practice reopened in mid-August without him. Palmer returned to work in early September to a handful of protesters and some public support from patients.

"The fact is the law was broken," said Johnny Rodrigues, the head of the Zimbabwe task force, which first reported news of Cecil's killing. "We are going to get our advocates in America to actually see what they can do to bring justice to him."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said it was investigating the killing of the lion.

Two more people still face charges related to Cecil's killing. Both allegedly were involved in using bait to lure the lion out of his habitat in Hwange National Park so he could be killed.

Theo Bronkhorst, a professional hunter in Zimbabwe, is charged with breaching hunting rules in connection with the hunt in which Cecil was killed. A game park owner is also charged with allowing an illegal hunt. Both have denied the charges.

Bronkhorst is expected to appear on Thursday in a Hwange court where a magistrate will rule on a request by his lawyers that his indictment be quashed.

Parks officials said prosecutors would bring Cecil's head, which the hunters took as a trophy, to court as an exhibit if the trial goes ahead.

Palmer has previously said that the hunt was legal and no one in the hunting party realized the targeted lion was Cecil, a well-known tourist attraction in the park.

Wildlife hunting, which earned $45 million last year, is an important source of money for Zimbabwe, which is still recovering from a catastrophic recession between 1999-2008.


(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe, additional reporting by David Bailey in Minneapolis; Editing by James Macharia and Jonathan Oatis)
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Time for all the "String Him Up" crowd to eat some crow. That means some of you guys on this site too.
 
Always quick to stab our own in the back...

I'm glad he isn't being charged and I hope he gets his life back.
 
Baiting, may not be considered fair chase in some areas, but is standard practice for Lion and Leopard hunting all across Africa.

The hunter may actually not have known that the Lion was baited from a park, even appears that the PH's might have the charges dropped.

Not good enough for the Lion huggers, they are like little kids stomping off when they don't get there way. Actually funny.
 
nowarningshot said:
Baiting, may not be considered fair chase in some areas, but is standard practice for Lion and Leopard hunting all across Africa.

The hunter may actually not have known that the Lion was baited from a park, even appears that the PH's might have the charges dropped.

Not good enough for the Lion huggers, they are like little kids stomping off when they don't get there way. Actually funny.
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baiting is not done in every country for Lion leopard is different. Calling on the other hands is prohibited in most countries but i ve been lucky to see how it works in a country that legalized many centuries ago.
 
On the very same day the lion was shot, 25,000 (+/-) children died around the world. Children have died every day before and since. Where is the social outrage for the lives of these children? It is very easy to wrap one's head around one dead lion but the lives of 25,000 children tends to be a little overwhelming.
 
StoneHorse said:
On the very same day the lion was shot, 25,000 (+/-) children died around the world. Children have died every day before and since. Where is the social outrage for the lives of these children? It is very easy to wrap one's head around one dead lion but the lives of 25,000 children tends to be a little overwhelming.
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Social media activists. Attention span shorter than a mayfly's life




...Oh, and Zimmerman deserves plenty of hate :p
 
I'm willing to bet that a huge decline in safari hunts (lost revenue) had something to do with the charges being dropped? Why is it that he's allowed back into the country as a tourist, but not a hunter? If he was not guilty why should he not be allowed to hunt there again? This really doesn't make sense, and there are too many activists groups getting involved.

Sounds like Zimbabwe has a pretty corrupt and weak government.
 
xeon said:
I'm willing to bet that a huge decline in safari hunts (lost revenue) had something to do with the charges being dropped? Why is it that he's allowed back into the country as a tourist, but not a hunter? If he was not guilty why should he not be allowed to hunt there again? This really doesn't make sense, and there are too many activists groups getting involved.

Sounds like Zimbabwe has a pretty corrupt and weak government.
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Zimbabwe corrupt? Likely the single most corrupt regime in Southern Africa. Most of the people live in poverty and Mugabe with his cronies live like kings. They are basically selling the country to the Chinese in return for hard currency since they have basically no economy. They use to be the bread basket of Africa now they have nothing. Google is your friend and will shock you when you see how bad it is...
 
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