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The Internet broke when US dentist Walter Palmer killed Zimbabwe’s beloved Cecil the Lion in July. The animal was lured out of Hwange National Park, shot with a compound bow. The lion lived for another 40 hours until the hunters shot him with a gun. The hunters then skinned, beheaded it and tried to destroy the GPS collar it had for an Oxford University research project. Â
There was a lot of publicity surrounding the event
Celebrities weighed in; TV host Jimmy Kimmel had an emotional monologue about the story. Palmer repeatedly insisted that he did not know that Cecil was a famous and protected lion, he added that he was following the local guides – “I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt.  I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt” he said – but that did not stop people from being angry at him. People were wondering whether he was going to be charged with a crime. Now, Opa Muchinguri, Zimbabwe’s minister of environment, water, and climate, has finally answered that question.
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Palmer is not going to be extradited
Palmer will not be charged in the lion’s death. Officials had previously said they wished to extradite and charge him. He said he would cooperate, but he claimed that he was never contacted by authorities. This was not the first time Palmer had gotten in trouble for hunting. Court documents show that a man named Walter Palmer illegally killed a black bear in Wisconsin and plead guilty to making false statements knowingly to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He was sentenced to one-year of probation and a fine of about $3,000.  Though Palmer managed to get away with Cecil’s killing, two Zimbabweans were charged.
Tourists are still welcome in Zimbabwe, but…
Muchinguri says that there has already been a lot of coverage on the killing.
“If you talk to him, tell him that tourists are welcome here,” she said. But she has one condition: “No hunting, though.”
Palmer may not have gotten charged, but he faced civilian justice. The backlash was so severe that Palmer had to shut down his office and go into hiding for a while. There were protesters outside the building when he returned to work. His Facebook and Yelp pages were being flooded with anger. Twitter’s #WalterPalmer hashtag was full of hate and there is a Facebook page with over 17,000 members shaming him.
SEE ALSO:Â The Entire Internet Is Enraged Over The Killing Of A Beloved Lion In Zimbabwe.
