Zimbabwe Won’t Prosecute Dentist for Hunting Cecil the Lion
“I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt”
Officials in Zimbabwe have confirmed that American dentist and big game hunter Walter Palmer will not be charged for killing Cecil the Lion.
In July, Environment minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri called for Palmer to be extradited to Zimbabwe to face charges for poaching, relying on reports that both Palmer and his guide illegally lured Cecil out of protected lands. Now, Muchinguri-Kashiri has told the media that Palmer technically did not break any laws, and that all of his hunting permits were in order.
Conservationists, however, are not convinced.
Via the Christian Science Monitor:
Local conservationists immediately condemned the announcement, maintaining that Palmer, who is a lifelong hunter, had committed a crime and should be subject to legal action, if not in Zimbabwe then in the United States.
“The fact is the law was broken. We are going to get our advocates in America to actually see what they can do to bring justice to him,” said Johnny Rodrigues, the head of the task force that first reported news of Cecil’s killing.
Palmer has not responded to requests for comment, but he maintained his innocence in a previous statement:
“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 in July.
Palmer may be out of the woods (at least in Zimbabwe,) but guide and game park owner Theo Bronkhorst is still on the hot seat. On Thursday, Bronkhorst will head back to court where a judge will decide whether or not to drop charges tied to the allegedly illegal $50,000 hunt.
Keep in mind that the “conservationists” who are now working hard to “see what they can do” to “bring justice” to a situation fully deserving of all the air quotes we can offer are the same people who instigated a witch hunt after initial reports broadcast the death of the beloved lion.
They went after this man’s wife and family, and lashed out at trophy hunters (and businesses that catered to them.)
The very country with a claim on justice has said that no justice is to be had from prosecuting this man, and yet American social justice warriors soldier on—for what?
To satisfy their sense of moral privilege, of course.
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Comments
They must have their sacrifice to the shrine of “Our Lady of Perpetual Outrage!”
The fact is the law was broken.
Which law do they claim was broken? How do they know such a law exists? Above all, how can they possibly hope to enforce a Zimbabwean law (if it exists, and if it was broken) in the USA? Do they seriously not realize that any attempt to go to court here will be dismissed with sanctions?
‘Laws’ and ‘broken’ are such 19th century constructs. If we can shut down a guitar manufacturer for legally importing about a suitcase worth of wooden sticks, arresting and prosecuting a dentist for the crime of (mumble mutter cough) and sending him to jail… I mean a reeducation facility for his entire life should be easy. /snark
Well, they probably realized that the gun used is the cause of this incident. Silly liberals…
Cecil was hunted with a bow. That didn’t do the job—a major faux pas in hunting. He was finally finished with a proper weapon some forty hours later.
Lots of material for hysteria about all sorts of projectile weapons there … I wouldn’t be surprised at a demand for “safety” arrows.
Actually if I remember correctly the 40 hours thing was found to be inaccurate. Though it was some hours later.
As far as the bow, everyone misses a shot from time to time.
We had those safety arrows as kids. They had suction cups on the end.
This dentist needs to sue his gun.
Bow, Henry. Not gun. Bow.
His bow, too.
This whole thing is not about Cecil the lion. The people who are screaming the loudest, could not even care less about Cecil. It is about that fact that a white American Christian male used a firearm to shoot Cecil. If the hunter had been anyone of another race and used a bow an arrows or a spear, there would be no uproar about the shooting or the Zimbabwe government dropping the charges.
Bow Stan, it was a bow not a firearm.
Good, this was ridiculous in the first place. I do note that even though Zim admitted that the Palmer had all the right paperwork, which is why they had to drop the charges. They have still banned him from hunting in Zim, he may return as a tourist only, not that I think he would want to. Which, after this I have taken Zim off of my next Africa trip and will not put it back on again, ever.
Now Zim will railroad the land owner and the PH to try to suck some “fines” out of them.
Want to bet how much money these so called “conservationist’s” have put into funding plantings for food and cover versus how much they pay themselves and see which is higher? I think they usually spend less than 10% of the donations (if even that much) on habitat improvement.
Calling them “conservationist’s’ is similar to calling obama a healer of race relations.
By now Cecil’s last batch of cubs have been killed by the new pride owner who is busy making his own cubs. At some point he’ll lose his power to a younger, stronger competitor and his last batch of cubs will be killed by his replacement. And so on and so on…
Did Cecil the Lion know that his name was Cecil the Lion? The Zimbabweans didn’t know that. Their response to the killing was “what lion? Who is Cecil?”
My shepherds only recognize their names because it comes attached to food and play. Cecil? His name was in his head ‘boss’. His name for other lions, ‘not food unless I am hungry’ or ‘thing for sex’. His name for humans, ‘interesting but probably not safe to eat, unless I am hungry’.
He was a lion. I hate when people anthropomorphize animals. Tell me when one discovers how to make fire on his own. Then I’ll be interested.
I also find it concerning when they want to anthropomorphize Apex Predators, lol.
Basically, “Cecil” had 4 driving urges; Eat, Kill, Sleep, and F(make baby lions)K. That’s it, period.
We had much of our town terrorized and shut down by ‘animal rights activists’. Their source for the animal’s suffering? Their reason for complaint?
A pet psychic. I kid you not a Godless pet psychic. There are not enough face palms to express the fail in their moronic ideas much less their dangerous and terroristic actions.