Zimbabwe demands US extradition of lion hunter
The Zimbabwean government has lodged a formal request with Washington calling for the extradition of an American dentist to face a legal trial for hunting a famous lion in the country early last month.
Speaking before a press conference in the nation’s capital of Harare on Friday, Zimbabwe's Environment Minister Oppah Muchinguri stated that she has forwarded an official request to her US counterpart for the extradition of Walter Palmer.
"We are taking this issue very seriously. We want him (Palmer) to be extradited and tried in Zimbabwe," she said, as quoted in a report by Xinhua.
According to local press reports, Palmer is believed to have hired local hunters to hunt down the 13-year-old male lion, known as Cecil, at the country’s Hwange national park on July 1, triggering a major global outcry.
Muchinguri (pictured below) further stated that Palmer and two Zimbabweans "deliberately" killed Cecil for trophy hunting while not authorized to hunt lions, thereby violating local hunting regulations by using a crossbow and arrows.
"It shows that the whole poaching event was properly orchestrated and well financed to make sure it succeeds," said the Zimbabwean minister.
The development comes as the two Zimbabweans, a professional hunter and a private farm owner, have already been summoned to court on charges of illegal poaching for alleged involvement in Palmer's hunting of the famed lion.
This is while Palmer claimed earlier through his spokesman that he followed his local guide in hunting the famous lion and was unaware that it was illegal.
If tried in Zimbabwe, Palmer would face a jail term of up to ten years for illegal poaching.
Meanwhile, an online petition to the US presidential residence, the White House, backing Palmer's extradition, has so far gained more than 500,000 signatures.
Zimbabwe has nearly 2,000 lions in its game parks. The country lifted a seven-year hunting ban on lions in 2011. It currently allows 50 to 70 lions to be killed by trophy hunters annually, according to the director general of Zimbabwe’s Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
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