Zimbabwe wants lion killer extradited to face charges

World Today

Outrage over the killing of an African lion in Zimbabwe is boiling around the world. From animal activists to celebrities, there is condemnation for the American dentist who killed Cecil the lion.
Now, Zimbabwe is pushing to get the hunter extradited from the U.S., where he is under a federal investigation.
CCTV America’s Frances Kuo filed this report.

American Walter Palmer is still in hiding as the international condemnations over his involvement in the killing of a famous African lion looms.
Zimbabwe, where Cecil the lion was killed, is now demanding Palmer be brought back to face charges there.

Palmer says the hunt he reportedly paid $50,000 to experience, was within Zimbabwean law. He admits to killing Cecil but insists he depended on the advice of his Zimbabwean guides to make sure the hunt was legal. Palmer has not been charged at the time of this writing. However, two people from Zimbabwe have been arrested for their involvement.

One of the Zimbabwean guides arrested told the British newspaper The Telegraph, the hunt went wrong from the beginning. He reportedly said Palmer shot the lion with a bow and arrow but couldn’t track Cecil. It is alleged that the group later spotted Cecil, and it was then that Palmer killed him. One of the guides said it was only when the group approached Cecil’s body, and noticed his tracking collar (a GPS collar that was on Cecil as part of a university study), that they realized it was a protected animal.

Fury against Palmer continues to grow outside the American’s dental office in Minnesota where he works, and across the Internet. So far, around 200,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Palmer’s extradition to Zimbabwe.

This story has put the spotlight on illegal wildlife trafficking, days after President Obama’s visit to Africa.

CCTV’s Frances Kuo reported this story from Washington