The American dentist who killed and skinned one of Africa's most famous lions.

Warning: Some of the images in this post may be distressing for some readers.

An American dentist who paid $50,000 to spend 40 hours stalking and then killing Cecil the lion has been unmasked.

A hunter has become the hunted after being exposed as the killer of one of Africa’s most famous lions.

The news that Zimbabwe’s Cecil the lion was slaughtered by a hunter broke earlier this week. Known for his black mane, the 13-year old lion was a famous attraction for wildlife tourists in Zimbabwe.

It was reported that Cecil was tempted outside a national park by a hunters who used a dead animal tied to their car to lure the lion out of a protected national park.

The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said the technique is often employed so that a protected animal can be “legally” killed as animals cannot be killed within the confines of the park.

The hunter then injured Cecil with his bow before tracking him for 40 hours and finishing him off with a gun.

The lion’s skinned and headless body was found along with Cecil’s tracking collar, which the hunters tried to destroy.

It was a sickening story with the unmade hunter said to be an unnamed Spaniard man.

But overnight The Telegraph revealed the true identify of the hunter – an American dentist named Walter Palmer from Minnesota.

He had paid $50,000 to lure, shoot and behead the black maned lion.

As Walter Palmer’s name flew through social media he found himself the target of a different type of hunt.

A social media witch hunt.

Walter Palmer, a father of two and prolific hunter had gone through a local company, Bushman Safaris to net his much wanted lion.

He is well known in hunting circles, hunting blogs show him standing grinning with a dead leopard, with an elk, with an endangered Nevada Bighorn Sheep.

The New York Times wrote of how he had killed all but two of the animals on a kill list produced by bow hunting group Pope and Young. The animals on the list include polar bears, bison, grizzly bears and cougars.

Interviews speak of his hunting prowess, of how he starting shooting at the age of five.

“It is a way of honouring that animal for all time.” Said the curator of the kill list.

Well, now it seems Walter Palmer is on a list of sorts – a social media target list.

Right across his social media profiles – from hunting pages to his dentist practice’s Facebook page Palmer has been targeting, with death threats:

“Nothing in this world would give me greater pleasure than to see your head mounted on a wall, your carcass defiled, degraded and paraded as you did to Cecil and near countless other animals”

With demands for his teeth to be pulled without anaesthetic.

With cries of revenge:

“You are lucky that the manhunt is forbidden, otherwise you would be on the list of quite a lot of people!
Shame on you!”

With anger and fury and with many just asking why.

“what to say? 
this is so sad, someone killing a beautiful animal -for fun (!)- and call it a trophy.

mankind is lost.”

Columnist Piers Morgan tweeting: “I’d love to go hunting for killer dentist Dr Walter Palmer, so I can stuff & mount him for MY office wall. “

Some, just a few, urged restraint from the savagery.

But it seems the official retribution is yet to come.

Yesterday the Zimbabwe National Parks released a statement saying the hunt was illegal.

“Ongoing investigations to date, suggest that the killing of the lion was illegal since the land owner was not allocated a lion on his hunting quota for 2015,” it said.

Theo Bronkhorst, the professional hunter with Bushman Safaris who allegedly assisted the Palmer in Cecil’s pursuit, claimed that he admitted the incident to the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, saying he made a “mistake.”

Bronkhorst and the landowner are both under arrest and due to appear in court on August 6th.

If convicted, the men face up to 15 years in prison. 

It looks like Palmer too may face charges with police in Zimbabwe saying they were looking for the dentist. Police spokesman Charity Charamba said “We arrested two people and now we are looking for Palmer in connection with the same case.”

In the last few hours Palmer issued a statement speaking of his “deep regret” over the incident.

In early July, I was in Zimbabwe on a bow hunting trip for big game. I hired several professional guides and they secured all proper permits. To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted.

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. 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. Again, I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion.”

As we wait to find out the fate of Walter Palmer what is clear is that the fate of many other lions will now be affected by the sickening kill of Cecil.

Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said that the future of the cubs of Cecil’s pride are now thought to be at risk, as often with lions once a pride is taken over with a male lion the new lion kills the cubs of left behind.

“The saddest part of all is that now that Cecil is dead, the next lion in the hierarchy, Jericho will most likely kill all Cecil’s cubs.

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