Zimbabwe decided not to charge the American dentist, Walter Palmer, after it emerged he had legal papers allowing him to hunt.
Further, Zimbabwe has dropped charges against the professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst, who led the expedition that killed prized lion Cecil last year.
The hunt provoked worldwide outrage after it emerged that Cecil was not only a popular attraction for visitors to Hwange National Park, but that he wore a collar as part of an Oxford University research project.
Bronkhorst was charged with "failing to prevent an illegal hunt" when American trophy hunter Walter Palmer, a dentist, paid $55,000 to shoot the lion with a bow and arrow in July last year.
Bronkhorst said he had the required permits to kill an elderly lion that was outside the national park boundaries. Cecil, who was 13 years old, was killed outside the reserve, which is not fenced.
Brent Stapelkamp a researcher with Oxford University’s lion project in the Hwange National Park for nine years said, “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.
“…. He was a total lion experience.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/11/charges-dropped-against-hunter-who-led-expedition-to-kill-cecil/
To read more and view truly horrifying photos of Walter Palmer’s killings, visit:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3670202/Not-care-world-dentist-slaughtered-Cecil-Lion-bow-arrow-exactly-year-ago-wave-revulsion-world.html
As reported by http://www.alternet.org/environment/bigger-story-behind-killing-cecil-lion-media-overlooked : Dr. Walter Palmer was a member of Safari Club International (SCI). As Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson said, SCI glorifies a culture of death by celebrating
the slaughter of animals — a ritual supported by an elaborate system that rewards killing.
He writes: What is truly despicable about this organization is that it encourages slaughter through awards. SCI’s record book system ranks the biggest tusks, horns, antlers, skulls and bodies of hunted animals. Hunters are rewarded with trophies
for completing a “Grand Slam.”
------------------------
Just one such “slam” is killing the following: The African Big Five Club (African lion, African leopard, African elephant, African buffalo and African rhinoceros).
Wildlife Watch is proud of the NYS legislators who are trying ban the import of the African Big Five trophies from coming through New York’s popular ports.