Minnesota Dentist Who Killed Zimbabwe’s Beloved Lion Sees His Yelp Reviews Go To Shit

SteveHolt10 years ago

It hasn’t been a very good week for Dr. Walter Palmer.

On Tuesday, the Minnesota-based dentist and big game hunter was outed as the man who killed Cecil, Zimbabwe’s notoriously friendly lion. Palmer allegedly paid $50,000 for the hunting trip.

From The Guardian:

On Tuesday, the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said the man thought to have paid $50,000 (£32,000) for the chance to kill Cecil was not a Spaniard as originally believed, but US citizen Walter Palmer, from a small town near Minneapolis. The man left the lion skinned and headless on the outskirts of the park, the ZCTF’s Johnny Rodrigues said in a statement.

The hunt took place around 6 July. “They went hunting at night with a spotlight and they spotted Cecil,” Rodrigues said. “They tied a dead animal to their vehicle to lure Cecil out of the park and they scented an area about half a kilometre from the park.”

The hunter first shot at Cecil with a bow and arrow but failed to kill the lion. “They tracked him down and found him 40 hours later when they shot him with a gun,” Rodrigues said.

…

Two people who accompanied the hunter on his Zimbabwe trip were identified by authorities and arrested earlier this month, including Theo Bronkhorst, the founder of Bushman Safaris Zimbabwe which is believed to have organised the hunt. Both are facing poaching charges and due to appear in court in early August.

Zimbabwe National Parks confirmed the charges. “In this case, both the professional hunter and land owner had no permit or quota to justify the offtake of the lion and therefore are liable for the illegal hunt,” it said in a statement. Bronkhorst’s hunting license has been suspended and efforts were being made to interview another employee of Bushman Safaris who was believed to have also taken part in the hunt.

Palmer, who probably grinned from ear to ear during the part in Lion King where Mufasa was trampled to death, maintains his innocence. He’s probably right, and it isn’t entirely his fault. He paid $50,000 for experienced guides who should have known better.

You’d almost feel bad for Palmer, if the hunters hadn’t tried to cover up the entire thing by destroying Cecil’s GPS collar. They also essentially sentenced Cecil’s cubs to death:

Conservation authorities said they were also dealing with the likely consequences of Cecil’s death for his six cubs. “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 so that he can insert his own bloodline into the females.”

Holy shit. Lions are brutal animals.

While many want Palmer extradited back to Zimbabwe to face charges for his crime, the probability of that happening is slim to none. So internet activists did what they do best: They targeted the internet testicles of any doctor or entrepreneur — his Yelp page.

Well, I guess it’s safe to assume why Dr. Palmer was charging all those exorbitant fees.

It isn’t “big-game” hunting if the animals have routinely socialized with humans. Palmer sucks — as a dentist and a hunter..

[via Some Ecards]

Image via YouTube