Cecil-hunter facing extradition

Walter Palmer with Cecil the dead lion.

Zimbabwe has called for the American dentist who shot Cecil the lion dead on a hunting trip to be extradited to Africa to face poaching charges, which could carry a lengthy prison sentence.

Dr Walter Palmer could also face a five-year jail term in the US and a US$20,000 fine for breaching the Lacey Act, which enforces the legal protection for endangered species.

Zimbabwean environment minister Oppah Muchinguri said Palmer was a "foreign poacher" who had financed an illegal hunt of Cecil, an "iconic attraction" in the country's famed Hwange National Park.

She suggested Palmer also wanted to tarnish Zimbabwe's image and said the country's prosecutor general had initiated the extradition request.

Palmer, from Minnesota, is reported to have paid about US$61,000 ($92,000) to hunt a lion and shot Cecil on July 1 on private land. He believed the hunt was legal.

The hunter who accompanied him told the Daily Telegraph they were "devastated" when they realised Cecil was wearing a radio collar because he was part of an academic study by Oxford University.

Muchinguri said Palmer would be sought on charges of financing an illegal hunt and for violation of Section 123 of the Parks and Wildlife Act, which controls the use of bows and arrows in hunting.