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
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
Neighbours slate trophy hunter who took life of well-known collared animal.
The American hunter unmasked yesterday as the killer of Cecil the lion has gone into hiding as the angry response spread across the internet and to Dr Walter Palmer's Minnesota hometown.
On the practice door of Palmer's dental surgery in Bloomington, Minnesota, a protester has fixed a flysheet with a picture of a beaming Palmer behind the body of a dead lion. "Dr Walt Palmer " doesn't he look proud of himself?, the flysheet read, before describing the demise of the "beloved Cecil".
In comparison to much of the online vitriol which has accompanied the unmasking of Palmer, the small shrine of toy animals that greeted visitors outside the practice's door to was a gentle rebuke. The little gaggle comprised of a moose, two toy lions, a bear, a leopard, a tiger and a chimp. But the condemnation was clear.
Press inquiries were directed to a Public Relations consultant, who issued a statement on the cosmetic dentist's behalf. Palmer expressed his regret at killing Cecil and insisted that he believed he was on a legal hunt. "I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt." He said he had not been contacted by authorities in Zimbabwe or the US but said he "will assist them in any inquiries they may have".
Palmer is wanted in Zimbabwe for alleged poaching. Hunting blogs feature images of him showing off a leopard, which he killed with an arrow in Zimbabwe in 2010. In 2008 he pleaded guilty to lying to the authorities over where he had shot a black bear during the 2006 hunting season. Yesterday he was not to be found, either at the surgery or his five-bedroom, estimated US$1 million home in a leafy Minneapolis suburb.
The death of Cecil seems to have been too much for people to stomach. Palmer's neighbours voiced their displeasure. "I find it very disturbing. I think to shoot a beautiful creature like that and have a hunt arranged so you can mount a trophy on the wall is something which should be consigned to history," said Jodie Root, 62. "My husband is a fly fisherman, but he catches and releases. He still enjoys the hunt, but then he sends it back to nature."
Laura Robbins, 49, who lives next door added: "I am shocked. I don't like anything like that, I think is is awful. It breaks my heart."
Stuffed animals adorn the doorstep of Dr. Walter Palmer's River Bluff Dental office. Photo / AP
Conservation groups reacted angrily: partly because the lion was known to visitors of the Hwange National Park, and partly because of the way in which he was killed. "He never bothered anybody," said Johnny Rodrigues, the head of Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.
Cecil was lured with bait at night out of his protected area and then shot with a bow and arrow. He was found 40 hours later, and shot dead with a gun by the hunters, before being beheaded and skinned. The hunters then removed his monitoring collar - contravening park rules. The professional hunter, Theo Bronkhorst, said he reported the "mistake" to the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
Researcher's fond memories of regal Cecil with the black-tinged mane
A Zimbabwean lion researcher has spoken of his fond memories of Cecil, the celebrated animal who was killed with a bow and arrow shot by an American dentist.
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 a month ago, showing the adult male standing less than a kilometre from where, on July 1, he died.
"Cecil was the most confident lion you ever met," Stapelkamp said. "He knew he was the biggest on the block."
Cecil was first identified in 2008 or 2009, spotted with his brother. The pair were seen at a watering hole called Magisihole Pan on the southern boundary of Hwange park. Magisihole Pan translates as "White Man's watering hole", so the siblings were named after famous white men: Cecil, after Cecil Rhodes, and Leander after Leander Starr Jameson, a pioneer in southern Africa and colleague of Rhodes.
"Cecil and Leander had a huge fight in June 2009 with an equally famous lion, called Mpofu, who was a legend," said Stapelkamp. "Leander was killed by Mpofu, and Mpofu had a badly broken leg and had to be put down by park rangers. So Cecil became the dominant male."
The lion with the distinctive black-tinged mane soon became a familiar sight to visitors to Hwange park, where an estimated 500 lions live.
"He was not really playful - more regal. He was a lion and he knew it, and everyone else be damned. You could get to two or three photographs of him, without him moving, and he was used to safari vehicles."
When he was killed, Cecil was on his fourth collar - used to monitor the population. "We dart them with a light dart of drugs which puts them asleep for an hour, and measure them, and then we put on the collar," said Stapelkamp. "I put on the last one."
