{Zimbabwe has requested the extradition of an American dentist, Walter Palmer, to face poaching charges after killing a collared lion named Cecil, a government minister said.}
“We’ve instructed the police and prosecutor general to write to the U.S. government seeking the extradition of Palmer,” Environment Minister Oppah Muchinguri told reporters in the capital, Harare, on Friday.
“We want Palmer to face the full wrath of the law.”
Cecil was killed this month outside Hwange National Park in north-western Zimbabwe, where he was a star attraction among tourists.
A professional hunter, Theo Bronkhorst, was granted bail of $1,000 after appearing in a court on Wednesday for helping Palmer shoot the lion.
Cecil was killed by a bow and arrow and wasn’t listed on the hunting permit, according to court documents.
The lion was collared and monitored as part of an Oxford University research project.
Palmer, from Minnesota, said in a statement to the Star Tribune he believed he had legally hunted the animal and that he didn’t know it was collared.
{{Source: Bloomberg}}
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