King Of Hwange Died 40 Hours After He Was Initially Wounded

An avid American hunter accused of illegally killing a protected lion in Zimbabwe said Tuesday that he thought everything about his trip was legal and wasn’t aware of the animal’s status “until the end of the hunt.”

Walter Palmer, who has a felony record in the US related to shooting a black bear in Wisconsin, released his statement through a public relations firm after being identified by Zimbabwean authorities as the American involved in the July hunt. They said he is being sought on poaching charges, but Palmer said he hasn’t heard from US or Zimbabwean authorities. Wildlife officials have accused an American hunter of killing Cecil, one of the oldest and most famous lions in Zimbabwe, without a permit after paying $50,000 to two guides. The lion was lured out of Hwange National Park using a bait and was shot by Walter James Palmer, Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF), told reporters. Will Travers, of the Born Free Foundation, told Al Jazeera that Cecil was first wounded by a bow and arrow but was not killed until 40 hours after he was first wounded. Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota who received widespread criticism on social media for killing Cecil, said on Tuesday he had hired several professional guides who secured permits for his bow hunting trip and deeply regretted taking the lion. "To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted," Palmer said in a statement posted on the Star Tribune newspaper website. Rodrigues said Palmer paid Zimbabwean hunter Theo Bronkhorst and Honest Ndlovu, a private game park owner, to lure the 13-year-old lion. Bronkhorst and Ndlovu will face poaching charges on Wednesday in Hwange for the lion's killing on July 1, he said. Palmer said he had not been contacted by authorities in Zimbabwe or the United States and would assist in any inquiries. "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's statement said. "I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt. “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. I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt,” said Palmer, a dentist who lives in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie. According to US court records, Palmer pleaded guilty in 2008 to making false statements to the US Fish and Wildlife Service about a black bear he fatally shot in western Wisconsin. Palmer had a permit to hunt but shot the animal outside the authorised zone in 2006, then tried to pass it off as being killed elsewhere, according to court documents. He was given one year probation and fined nearly US$3 000. Doug Kelley, a former federal prosecutor and Palmer’s attorney in the bear case, was unavailable for immediate comment on Tuesday, according to his assistant. Palmer was identified by the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe and police as the American facing poaching charges for the crossbow killing of Cecil, a well-known and protected lion. The animal’s death has outraged animal conservationists and others. Local authorities in Zimbabwe allege the lion was lured from a protected area and killed in early July. Zimbabwean conservationists said the American allegedly paid US$50 000 for the trip. The lion’s death has outraged animal conservationists and others, including US Republican Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat. In a statement late on Tuesday, the congresswoman called for an investigation by the US Attorney’s Office and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to see whether any US laws were violated. Palmer’s whereabouts were unknown on Tuesday. No one answered the door at his home, and a woman who came out of his dental office in nearby Bloomington said he wasn’t there and wasn’t taking patients on Tuesday. Phone calls to listed home numbers went unanswered. Palmer has several hunts on record with the Pope and Young Club, where archers register big game taken in North America for posterity, said Glenn Hisey, the club’s director of records. Hisey said he didn’t have immediate access to records showing the types and number of animals killed by Palmer, but noted that club records involve legal hunts “taken under our rules of fair chase.” Although African game wouldn’t be eligible, Hisey said he alerted the group’s board that Palmer’s ethics were being called into question. He said Palmer’s domestic records could be jeopardised if he’s found to have done something illegal abroad. A Facebook page for Palmer’s Minnesota dental practice was taken offline on Tuesday after users flooded it with comments condemning Palmer’s involvement in the hunt. Hundreds of similar comments inundated a page for his dental practice on the review platform Yelp, which prior to Tuesday had only three comments. Palmer is properly licensed and able to practice in the state, according to the Minnesota Board of Dentistry. Board records show that Palmer was the subject of a sexual harassment complaint settled in 2006, with Palmer admitting no wrongdoing and agreeing to pay a former receptionist more than US$127,000. Previous scrutiny Palmer's hunting has attracted scrutiny in the past. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to lying to a US wildlife agent about a black bear he killed in Wisconsin two years before. Palmer was accused of killing a bear outside his permitted zone, hauling the carcass back into the approved area and certifying falsely that it was killed there. He was sentenced to one year probation and fined $2,938. Comments posted on Twitter about Palmer included, "You are a disgusting excuse of a human," and "When does hunting season start on Walter Palmer." Cecil, a distinctive black-maned lion, was a popular attraction at the Hwange National Park and had featured in many photographic shoots. Cecil's head and skin were recovered and would be used as evidence in court, Rodrigues said. Travers told Al Jazeera that lion numbers "are on a precipitous decline and trophy hunting is one of the causes of that decline". Lions are not a protected species in Zimbabwe. If convicted, the two men would be required to pay $20,000 in compensation but the court may impose an additional jail term. Investigations show the killing of Cecil was illegal because the land owner was not allocated a lion on his hunting quota for 2015, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) and ZCTF said in a statement. "Therefore, all persons implicated in this case are due to appear in court facing poaching charges," the conservationists said. Zimbabwe issues annual permits allowing foreign hunters to kill wildlife like the elephant, buffalo and lion, saying this allows it to raise money for conservation.