Killer Dentist Who Shot Cecil the Lion Will Not Face Charges

After a mass display of international outrage on social media and the pressc, the dentist who shot and killed Cecil the lion with a bow and arrow will not be facing criminal charges.

CBS Minnesota reports:

The Minnesota dentist who killed Cecil the Lion, sparking international protest, will not face charges, according to reports.

His paid guide, Theo Bronkhorst, has been charged with failing to prevent an illegal hunt. He faces up to 15 years in jail.

According to reports Monday morning, the environmental minister in Zimbabwe has said Palmer will escape prosecution as his papers were in order.

In July, Walter Palmer admitted to killing to Cecil the lion. He has always maintained he did not do so illegally. After taking a two month hiatus due to a flood of protests outside his dentistry practice, Mr. Palmer is now back at work.

BBC News reports:

Speaking publicly for the first time about the incident last month, he told the Associated Press and Minneapolis Star Tribune that if he had known who the animal was he would not have killed it.

“If I had known this lion had a name and was important to the country or a study obviously I wouldn’t have taken it,” Mr Palmer said. “Nobody in our hunting party knew before or after the name of this lion.”

Mr Palmer also revealed that his wife and daughter had faced intimidation.

“They’ve been threatened in the social media, and again… I don’t understand that level of humanity to come after people not involved at all,” he said.

An avid hunter who had previously visited Zimbabwe four times, Mr Palmer did not rule out returning to the country,

“I don’t know about the future,” he said.

“Zimbabwe has been a wonderful country for me to hunt in, and I have always followed the laws.”