ZIMBABWE HAS CALLED called for Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, to be extradited from the United States for shooting Cecil the lion.
Palmer allegedly paid $50,000 for the hunt earlier this month in which he shot the lion with a powerful bow and arrow close to Hwange national park in the west of Zimbabwe.
The killing of the lion triggered a worldwide outrage – and more than 160,000 people have now signed a petition calling for the hunter’s extradition.
A petition needs just 100,000 signatures to guarantee a White House response.
Meanwhile, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the latest well-known figure to express his ire at the killing, along with the likes of Ricky Gervais and Jimmy Kimmel.
The former California governor’s dusted down some old pictures to make a point…
Cecil, who had a distinctive black mane, was a popular tourist attraction among visitors to the Zimbabwe park and was also wearing a collar as part of a University of Oxford research project.
“We are appealing to the responsible authorities for (Palmer’s) extradition to Zimbabwe so that he can be made accountable for his illegal actions,” environment minister Oppah Muchinguri told reporters in Harare today.
Unfortunately it was too late to apprehend the foreign poacher as he had already absconded to his country of origin.
Palmer, who has gone into hiding amid the torrent of abuse and criticism, has apologised for killing Cecil and said he was misled by professional guide Theo Bronkhorst.
Bronkhorst, who organised the expedition, was granted bail by the Hwange court on Wednesday after being charged with “failing to prevent an illegal hunt”.
With reporting from © AFP, 2015.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say