Cecil the lion's head handed over to police

Walter Palmer (left) poses with his guide after killing Cecil the lion after luring the big cat with bait out of a protected area. Photo / Facebook

The head and skin of Cecil the lion, who was shot by an American dentist, have been handed over to police in Zimbabwe.

Theo Bronkhorst, the Zimbabwean professional hunter who supervised the hunt, told The Telegraphhe wanted to give the remains to the authorities.

Mr Bronkhorst had kept the remains of Cecil in his house to mature it ahead of curing at a taxidermist before it goes to the United States. But it is likely the remains will remain in Zimbabwe, Mr Bronkhorst said.

Normally the skin is salted and stuffed, and the head mounted as a trophy. Importing elephant heads into the US is illegal, but it is permitted to bring in lion heads.

Givemore Mvhiringi, his lawyer in Victoria Falls, said: "I advised my client to hand over the head and skin of the dead lion to the police as soon as he gets back to Bulawayo."

The maximum penalty for the alleged crime is US$400 (NZ$606). However, lawyers suggest that Zimbabwe's national parks authority would also seek compensation for the lion, if Mr Bronkhorst was found guilty.

Mr Bronkhorst, 52, appeared before a magistrate on Wednesday and was bailed on poaching charges. The occupier of the land where Cecil was shot, Honest Ndlovu, is also facing charges - but Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist, has not been charged with any offence.

Mr Bronkhorst and his wife were alarmed by the immense backlash from the July 1 shooting. The couple run a business, Bushman Safaris, based in Hwange, which since 1992 has offered hunting holidays.

But he and his wife live in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo. Unfamiliar cars have been parked outside Mr Bronkhorst's home since after the court case on Wednesday and he says his wife is "nervous". Residents nearby say they believe the cars belong to Zimbabwe's feared Central Intelligence Organisation.

"This is affecting her health," he told The Telegraph.

Mr Bronkhorst faces much criticism both in Zimbabwe and around the world for the style of the hunt which cost Cecil his life.

The head of Zimbabwe's safari association said the big cat with the black mane was lured into the kill zone and denied "a chance of a fair chase." Using bait to lure the lion is deemed unethical by the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, of which Mr Bronkhorst is a member. The association has since revoked his licence.

Mr Bronkhorst's son who was on the hunt has been suspended from the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association.

"Ethics are certainly against baiting. Animals are supposed to be given a chance of a fair chase," said Emmanuel Fundira, the association's president. "In fact, it was not a hunt at all. The animal was baited, and that is not how we do it. It is not allowed."

Mr Palmer said he was unaware that the animal was wrongly hunted.

"I hired several professional guides and they secured all proper permits," he said. "To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted."

Brent Stapelkamp has been a researcher with Oxford University's lion project in the Hwange National Park for nine years. The 37-year-old took the last photo of Cecil: an image shot a month ago, showing the adult male standing less than a mile from where, on July 1, he died.

"He was not really playful - more regal," said Mr Stapelkamp. "He was a lion and he knew it, and everyone else be damned - he was the biggest cat on the block, and didn't have to be playful. "You could get to two or three photographs of him, without him moving, and he was used to safari vehicles. He was a total lion experience."

- The Telegraph