Cecil the lion’s killer, Walter Palmer, avoids charges

WALTER Palmer, the wealthy US dentist who sparked outrage for slaughtering beloved Cecil the lion, has been let off the hook in Zimbabwe.

THE wealthy US dentist who killed Cecil the lion in a hunt that provoked worldwide outrage will face no charges in Zimbabwe because all the required paperwork was in order, the government says.

“(Walter) Palmer came to Zimbabwe because his papers were in order,” Environment Minister Oppah Muchinguri told reporters on Monday.

“We are now going to review how we issue hunting quotas.”

Hunted ... Cecil strolls around in Hwange National Park, in Hwange, Zimbabwe. Picture: Paula French via AP

Palmer, 55, faced a massive outpouring of anger after it emerged he had killed the rare black-maned lion in July during a hunt in Hwange National Park.

He was forced to temporarily close his dental practice in suburban Minneapolis amid calls he be extradited to Zimbabwe to face prosecution for the illegal killing.

At the time Ms Muchinguri supported the extradition, calling Palmer a “foreign poacher”. On Monday, however, she backed down, saying he was free to visit the country “not for hunting, but as a tourist”.

Blood sport ... Walter Palmer and a fellow hunter with a lion killed on a different occasion. Picture: Supplied

Palmer shot the lion using a bow and arrow outside the park’s borders. Cecil did not die immediately and was tracked down the following day before being killed with a second arrow.

The dentist has since claimed he had no idea of Cecil’s protected status even though the animal was fitted with a GPS collar as part of an Oxford University research program.

“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,” said Palmer, who is believed to have paid around $70,000 to kill Cecil.

Two Zimbabwean men have been charged with poaching over Cecil’s death and face 15 years if convicted.

Facing jail ... Theodro Bronkhorst is one of two Zimbabwean men charged with poaching over Cecil’s death. Picture: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP