U.S. dentist who killed Cecil the Lion returns to work
The U.S. dentist who killed Cecil the Lion returned to work on Tuesday, despite protests from animal lovers after closing down his practice in July.
Dr. Walter Palmer, 55, ignored the protesters who called him a "murderer" and the reporters waiting for him at his dental clinic in Bloomington, Minnesota. He sparked a global outcry after he was revealed to be the hunter who killed Cecil, the popular black-maned lion at the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, according to Reuters.
Cecil's death brought to the spotlight the practice of big-game hunting and caused three U.S. airlines to prohibit passengers from transporting their kill from Africa. Zimbabwe had sought Palmer's extradition in a poaching case, but the country has not charged the dentist yet. Authorities have only filed charges against the hunting guide and the owner of the land in which the hunt was done, the report details.
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Last month, the River Bluff Dental practice reopened without Dr. Palmer. On Sunday, the dentist told the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Associated Press that he needed to perform his professional duties once again and resume his normal life.
However, Palmer's return at the clinic was greeted by protesters who wanted justice for Cecil the Lion's death and carried signs bearing the words "Extradite Palmer," "Justice for Cecil," and "May you never hunt again."
But some of his patients also showed support for the embattled dentist. One of his neighbors even told the protesters to leave the dentist alone.
"They want the guy dead; they want his business dead," the Star Tribune quotes Stephanie Michaelis' statement to the protesters. "They want him extradited and hung. I've seen the signs; I've seen the rhetoric. I'm tired of it. … What do we have to do with a lion in Africa?"
However, the protesters insisted that Palmer was the one who "created the firestorm" by calling himself and other trophy hunters as conservationists. Cathy Pierce from East Bethel brought her Alaskan malamute and said she was there to speak up for the animals who cannot defend themselves and to help the public realize that there are animals that are nearly extinct.
Palmer maintains that the hunt in Zimbabwe was legal and that they did not know that the targeted game was the popular lion, the report relays.
Zimbabwe is one of the several African countries wherein regulated big-game hunting is allowed.
