Us Dentist Walter Palmer 'regrets' Killing Zimbabwe Lion Cecil

[Billy Ocean]

US dentist Walter Palmer 'regrets' killing Zimbabwe lion Cecil

28 July 2015

Walter Palmer said he had no idea that the lion was a "local favourite"

A US dentist who killed a lion in Zimbabwe says he regrets shooting the well-known animal and insists that he thought he was on a legal hunt.

Police in Zimbabwe have arrested two people over the death of Cecil, the country's most famous lion, and say Mr Palmer may also face poaching charges.

But Mr Palmer, from Minnesota, said he relied on professional guides to find a lion and obtain the necessary permits.

He also said he only found out the lion's identity at the end of the hunt.

The American tourist, who is believed to have paid about $50,000 (£32,000) to go on the hunt, is said to have shot the animal with a crossbow and rifle.

It was later skinned and beheaded, according to the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF), a local charity.

Two Zimbabwean men - a professional hunter and a farm owner - have been charged with poaching offences because the group did not have a hunting permit.

They could face up to 15 years in prison in Zimbabwe if they are found guilty. They are due to appear in court on Wednesday.

'An activity I love'

But Mr Palmer, who is thought to be back in the US, insisted that his guides had secured "all proper permits" for the hunt.

"I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

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".

"Again, I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practise responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion," he added.

The dental practice run by Mr Palmer in Bloomington, Minnesota, was closed on Tuesday

The dental practice run by Mr Palmer was closed on Tuesday and a note was placed on the door referring visitors to a public relations firm, according to local press.

The practice's Facebook page was removed from the site after being besieged by angry comments and the company website was also taken down.

Zimbabwe, like many African countries, is battling to curb illegal hunting and poaching which threatens to make some of its wildlife extinct.

The 13-year-old lion was a major tourist attraction at the country's famous Hwange National Park.

Night-time pursuit

He is believed to have been killed on 1 July but the carcass was not discovered until a few days later.

The ZCTF said the hunters had used bait to lure him outside Hwange National Park during a night-time pursuit.

Mr Palmer is said to have shot Cecil with a crossbow, injuring the animal. The group didn't find the wounded lion until 40 hours later, when he was shot dead with a gun.

The animal had a GPS collar fitted for a research project by UK-based Oxford University that allowed authorities to track its movements. The hunters tried to destroy it, but failed, according to the ZCTF.

On Monday, the head of the ZCTF told the BBC that Cecil "never bothered anybody" and was "one of the most beautiful animals to look at".

The six cubs of Cecil will now be killed by the new male lion in the pride, Johnny Rodrigues added, in order to encourage the lionesses to mate with him.

"That's how it works... it's in the wild. It's nature taking its course," he added.

About a century ago there were around 200,000 lions roaming across Africa but that figure has dropped to less than 30,000 in recent years.

Hunting lions is legal in several countries in southern Africa, including Zimbabwe, but groups must obtain a valid permit from authorities.

[Billy Ocean]

Cecil was a 13 year old "tagged" lion, lured from a protected area, baited at night, lit with a spotlight and shot with a crossbow. Cecil bled for 40 hours before he was finally shot and killed with a rifle. "The animal had a GPS collar ... The hunters tried to destroy it."

I wish I could meet this cocksucking dentist so I could spit in his face.

[JDaveG]

I regret he felt it necessary to shoot him with a crossbow, inaccurately, and then have to wait 40 hours to find him so he could finally kill him humanely. I also regret that he shot him only to take his head and use it as a trophy.

I'm in favor of legal, ethical hunting, such as culling the deer population or varmint hunting to conserve crops or land. But hunting simply for the thrill of killing something, IMHO, indicates a depraved mind.

[Billy Ocean]

Jimmy Kimmel Is Really Upset About the Dentist That Killed Cecil the Lion

The late-night host even got choked up talking about it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=96&v=_LzXpE1mjqA

Jimmy Kimmel is known for his biting wit, but on Jimmy Kimmel Live Tuesday night he was as serious as could be on the topic of Cecil the lion.

People around the world have been outraged at the news that a 55-year-old American dentist Walter Palmer hunted, maimed and, ultimately, killed a lion during a safari holiday in Zimbabwe. It also emerged that Palmer had hunted numerous big-game animals in the past. But the lion that he killed most recently turned out to be Cecil, a star attraction at Hwange National Park, who was being studied and tracked by Oxford University.

Count Kimmel among the outraged and he used his late-night show to condemn the dentist, asking “is it that difficult for you to get an erection that you need to kill things that are stronger than you?” The comedian was so upset, he even teared up as he called on people to make donations to the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford, saying he wanted to turn the story into a “positive” one.

[Guest facelessman07]

Quite tragic indeed

[capologist]

I honestly don't get it. I couldn't see something that majestic and beautiful and my prevailing thought be "kill it"...

[Billy Ocean]

Cecil the Lion Killer Walter James Palmer Has Bear-Related Felony Record

The American dentist who killed a well-known lion in Zimbabwe also has a felony record over the hunting of black bear in Wisconsin, court documents show.

Walter James Palmer sparked outrage when it emerged he killed Cecil the lion, a local tourist favorite who had been collared as part of an Oxford University research project.

The Minnesota-based dentist said he had the correct permits to hunt and kill the animal earlier this month. But the two people he hired to lure the lion to its death have been charged with breaching hunting quotas and were due in court Wednesday.

Following the incident, court documents emerged showing Palmer was fined $3,000 and given a year's probation after pleading guilty over the illegal killing of a black bear in Wisconsin in 2006.

Palmer had a permit to hunt bears within a certain area near Phillips, in the north of the state. But on September 1, 2006, he was part of a group of people who killed a black bear 40 miles outside this permitted zone, according to the court documents from April 2008.

Realizing what they had done, the group agreed that "if any authorities were to ask where the bear had been killed, they would say" it was hunted within the correct area, the documents added.

They transported the carcass to a registration station where they certified the animal had been killed legally, the documents said, adding that the body was later taken to Minnesota, where Palmer lives.

Palmer was charged with knowingly making false statement to an agent of the Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, having "falsely stated that he thought the bear had been killed legally" during interviews with officials the next month.

According The Associated Press, citing the Minnesota Board of Dentistry, the dentist was also the subject of a sexual harassment complaint settled in 2006. He admitting no wrongdoing and agreed to pay a former receptionist more than $127,000, the AP said.

He was also convicted in Minnesota court in 2003 for fishing without a licence.

Theo Bronchorst and Honest Trymore Ndlovu, the professional hunter and landowner who allegedly "connived" to kill Cecil the lion, were due in court on Wednesday, Zimbabwe wildlife officials said.

Together they are charged with illegally killing the animal because they had "no permit or quota to justify the offtake of the lion and therefore are liable for the illegal hunt," the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said in a statement Monday.

Palmer said in a statement to NBC News: "I have not been contacted by authorities in Zimbabwe or in the U.S. about this situation, but will assist them in any inquiries they may have."

[Billy Ocean]

This wasn't even the dentist's first lion. Here's some other animals he killed:

[Googlywoogly]

If we learned this Poo Stain died in a fire today I would do a happy dance.

[Googlywoogly]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/dont-forget-that-killing-a-lion-is-the-most-cowardly-thing-y?bffb&utm_term=4ldqpgp#.gwm8JeaqE

Don’t Forget That Killing A Lion Is The Most Cowardly Thing You Can Do

I can’t believe I have to explain this again.

[Billy Ocean]

Real men help big cats.

Putin praises DiCaprio as 'a real man' as he survives air scares to make tiger summit... and then pledges $1m to save creature from extinction

[toadfishtom]

What a limp dik @ss hole

Somebody should shoot him with a crossbow

[kicker]

Well, my sentiments have been covered thoroughly in this thread.

Guy's life is pretty much ruined. Doesn't bother me a bit.

i read that Cecil's cubs will be killed by another lion as he tries to mate with a female. So the consequences don't end with just killing Cecil. ******* idiots.

[capologist]

Jimmy John's owner John Liautaud is a big game hunter as well. If you feel strongly against trophy hunters, boycott Jimmy Johns.

[mashburn*Fibonacci]

1. He killed a bear and lied about where it was.

2. If he the hunters lied to him. Then why did he not call it in himself that he killed the lion..... But instead he let them try to destroy the GPS???

3. He allowed baiting to be done (that tells you enough he knew). You never bait anything over there Unless it's to bring an animal into a permit area for you to kill it.

Therefore the guy is going to jail over there. He knew what he was doing or when he found out he ignored doing the right thing to help his case.

[Vogelgryff]

Half rapist half psychopath mentality...

An oldie to feel better:

[kicker]

Jimmy John's owner John Liautaud is a big game hunter as well. If you feel strongly against trophy hunters, boycott Jimmy Johns.

holy ****. I eat there all the time. I'm done. Thanks for posting.

[mashburn*Fibonacci]

Jimmy John's owner John Liautaud is a big game hunter as well. If you feel strongly against trophy hunters, boycott Jimmy Johns.

I kill for food and clothing. I go after turkey and elk. I can't stand deer taste. Just bland and boring.

But I'm not going to boycott jj because they kill for fun.

By the way I owned a wild animal in Pittsburgh. I have the license to do so. And a lot of people disagree with me on it. It would be messed up if someone went around saying to boycott my businesses over something I'm legally doing.

By the way. I'm probably going to be getting a fox.

And I own a 400 fps crossbow. Because of bow season and certain areas you can only use a bow.

[mashburn*Fibonacci]

Real men help big cats.

Putin praises DiCaprio as 'a real man' as he survives air scares to make tiger summit... and then pledges $1m to save creature from extinction

Wow is this true?

[Joremarid]

People still have to hunt to eat in america?

[Dago 3.0]

People still have to hunt to eat in america?

who said that?

[Billy Ocean]

My family owns a good bit of land in southeast Georgia and a few years ago there was a rapidly expanding population of wild boars destroying our property. We trapped some and had them relocated. I shot some others and donated the meat to poors.

[kicker]

My family owns a good bit of land in southeast Georgia and a few years ago there was a rapidly expanding population of wild boars destroying our property. We trapped some and had them relocated. I shot some others and donated the meat to poors.

feral pigs are a huge problem in South Georgia and South Carolina. DNR is paying hunters for killing them. http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150315/PC16/150319688/1177

[Billy Ocean]

They're a problem from Texas to British Columbia.

A Plague of Pigs in Texas | Science | Smithsonian

Feral pigs: B.C. allows hunting 'anywhere and at any time'

Can Wild Pigs Ravaging the U.S. Be Stopped? - Scientific American

[AF89]

Yeah that's just a hobby (safari hunting) I don't understand either, but I guess it's simply a status symbol for the the rich. Not much different from some of these hunters I see domestically that use so much tech and bait, killing the animal isn't much more than shooting fish in a barrel now . And then not to use it as food? Well what the heII were you doing it in the first place cause it sure as sh^t wasn't the challenge. All they care about is getting the trophy and picture to show off to their dumb@ss friends.