US dentist who killed Cecil the lion set to return to work

[webfact]

US dentist who killed Cecil the lion set to return to work
By BRIAN BAKST

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota dentist whose killing of Cecil the lion sparked a global backlash emerged for an interview in which he disputed some accounts of the hunt, expressed agitation at the animosity directed at those close to him and said he would be back at work within days.

Walter Palmer, who has spent more than a month out of sight after becoming the target of protests and threats, intends to return to his suburban Minneapolis dental practice Tuesday. In an interview Sunday evening conducted jointly by The Associated Press and the Minneapolis Star Tribune that advisers said would be the only one granted, Palmer said again that he believes he acted legally and that he was stunned to find out his hunting party had killed one of Zimbabwe's treasured animals.

"If I had known this lion had a name and was important to the country or a study obviously I wouldn't have taken it," Palmer said. "Nobody in our hunting party knew before or after the name of this lion."

Cecil was a fixture in the vast Hwange National Park and had been fitted with a GPS collar as part of Oxford University lion research. Palmer said he shot the big cat with the black mane using an arrow from his compound bow outside the park's borders but it didn't die immediately. He disputed conservationist accounts that the wounded lion wandered for 40 hours and was finished off with a gun, saying it was tracked down the next day and killed with an arrow.

An avid sportsman, Palmer shut off several lines of inquiry about the hunt, including how much he paid for it or others he has undertaken. No videotaping or photographing of the interview was allowed. During the 25-minute interview, Palmer gazed intensely at his questioners, often fiddling with his hands and turning occasionally to an adviser, Joe Friedberg, to field questions about the fallout and his legal situation.

Some high-level Zimbabwean officials have called for Palmer's extradition, but no formal steps toward getting the dentist to return to Zimbabwe have been publicly disclosed. Friedberg, a Minneapolis attorney who said he is acting as an unpaid consultant to Palmer, said he has heard nothing from authorities about domestic or international investigations since early August.

Friedberg said he offered to have Palmer take questions from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service authorities on the condition the session be recorded. He said he never heard back.

"I'm not Walter's lawyer in this situation because Walter doesn't need a lawyer in this situation," said Friedberg, who said he knew Palmer through previous matters. "If some governmental agency or investigative unit would make a claim that he violated some law then we'd talk about it."

Ben Petok, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Andy Luger, declined comment about conversations with Friedberg and referred questions to Fish and Wildlife. An agency spokeswoman didn't immediately return a call or an email Sunday evening.

After Palmer was named in late July as the hunter who killed Cecil, his Bloomington clinic and Eden Prairie home became protest sites, and a vacation property he owns in Florida was vandalized. Palmer has been vilified across social media, with some posts suggesting violence against him. He described himself as "heartbroken" for causing disruptions for staff at his clinic, which was shuttered for weeks until reopening in late August without him on the premises. And he said the ordeal has been especially hard on his wife and adult daughter, who both felt threatened.

"I don't understand that level of humanity to come after people not involved at all," Palmer said.

As for himself, he said he feels safe enough to return to work — "My staff and my patients support me and they want me back" — but declined to say where he's spent the last six weeks or describe security steps he has taken.

"I've been out of the public eye. That doesn't mean I'm in hiding," Palmer said. "I've been among people, family and friends. Location is really not that important."

Palmer, who has several big-game kills to his name, reportedly paid thousands of dollars for the guided hunt but wouldn't talk money on Sunday.

Theo Bronkhorst, a professional hunter who helped Palmer, has been charged with "failure to prevent an illegal hunt." Honest Ndlovu, whose property is near the park in western Zimbabwe, faces a charge of allowing the lion hunt to occur on his farm without proper authority.

Asked whether he would return to Zimbabwe for future hunts, Palmer said, "I don't know about the future." He estimated he had been there four times and said, "Zimbabwe has been a wonderful country for me to hunt in, and I have always followed the laws."

In addition to the Cecil furor, Palmer pleaded guilty in 2008 to making false statements to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about a black bear he fatally shot in western Wisconsin outside of the authorized hunting zone. He was given one year probation and fined nearly $3,000 as part of a plea agreement.

Cecil's killing set off a fierce debate over trophy hunting in Africa. Zimbabwe tightened regulations for lion, elephant and leopard hunting after the incident, and three major U.S. airlines changed policies to ban shipment of the trophies.
___

Associated Press writer Amy Forliti contributed.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-09-07

[lee b]

People should go and get there teeth looked at somewhere else then. Scumbag...

[Baerboxer]

"Sportsman" my arse. What a complete arrogant tosser. What right does he think he has to kill an animal for his pleasure? Piece of shit deserves all he gets, and more.

Hunting - like the animal is lured in with bait and he shoots it from a safe vantage point with an arrow. Then sometime the next day they track it and he shoots it dead with a gun.

Well off bastard sees nothing wrong with an animal suffering a day or so for his pleasure.

Hope he gets the same treatment someday.

[MaxYakov]

"Sportsman" my arse. What a complete arrogant tosser. What right does he think he has to kill an animal for his pleasure? Piece of shit deserves all he gets, and more.

Hunting - like the animal is lured in with bait and he shoots it from a safe vantage point with an arrow. Then sometime the next day they track it and he shoots it dead with a gun.

Well off bastard sees nothing wrong with an animal suffering a day or so for his pleasure.

Hope he gets the same treatment someday.

Maybe he gets a kick out of torturing his patients as well. That is if he has any left after this.

[rijit]

What a totally ignorant prick He thinks killins ok for fun when it doesnt have a name.

rijit

[Colabamumbai]

Someone will hunt him down.

[DaddyWarbucks]

Judged by contemporary standards this guy is a sick puppy.

Although not so long ago big game hunting was an accepted sport.

Look at photos of Teddy Roosevelt on safari with his trophy kills - not to mention the Brits in Asia and Africa.

[rijit]

Judged by contemporary standards this guy is a sick puppy.

Although not so long ago big game hunting was an accepted sport.

Look at photos of Teddy Roosevelt on safari with his trophy kills - not to mention the Brits in Asia and Africa.

Yep thankfully times change unfortunatly ignorance doasnt

rijit

[mcfish]

"If I had known this lion had a name and was important to the country or a study obviously I wouldn't have taken it,"

IDIOT stop saying you "took" the Lion. You didn't take it, you killed it !

[oxo1947]

Because of the bad press, the US dentist who killed Cecil the lion is probably going to lose his business.


I expect the poor guy will be at home now, crying into his new rug.............................

[MadBum]

Sadly, far more people were upset about Cecil the Lion than the 4 0r 5 Police Officers that were murdered in America just last week.

[Ulic]

If the 50+K he supposedly paid was used to fund conservation efforts and the lion hunted/killed was an old lion not the dominant male of the pride I could see the hunt as defensible. After all they will all die. However with the money paid to game guides who grease the right palms for the license, and bait the pride leader off the reserve for a canned hunt the consequences are

his to bare. BTW. I do not hunt, and I own no guns.

[dogpatch55]

Yeah the guy is a low life scumbag!! He should be taken out into the bush miles from anywhere and left for the animals he likes to kill to hunt him down, maybe put a crossbow bolt in his guts first!

[ThaiKneeTim]

Sadly, far more people were upset about Cecil the Lion than the 4 0r 5 Police Officers that were murdered in America just last week.

The police officers were armed and could shoot back!

[tumama]

"Sportsman" my arse. What a complete arrogant tosser. What right does he think he has to kill an animal for his pleasure? Piece of shit deserves all he gets, and more.

And people who eat meat for pleasure then? Did you just call yourself a tosser and POS?

[chilli42]

There is a not subtle difference between hunting a trophy and hunting for sustainable food. All animals die and those that greet you on your plate every day live and die in miserable conditions. We seem, for the most part, be able to accept this. What most sane people can't accept is killing for fun.

[rice555]

"If I had known this lion had a name and was important to the country or a study obviously I wouldn't have taken it,"

IDIOT stop saying you "took" the Lion. You didn't take it, you killed it !

Who KILLED the fish in your avatar?

rice555

[Anthony5]

Judged by contemporary standards this guy is a sick puppy.

Although not so long ago big game hunting was an accepted sport.

Look at photos of Teddy Roosevelt on safari with his trophy kills - not to mention the Brits in Asia and Africa.

Yep thankfully times change unfortunatly ignorance doasnt

rijit

Yeah times change, people these days look to have an argument on the internet, most of the times because of the envy they carry.

Edited September 7, 2015 by Anthony5

[capcc76]

Judged by contemporary standards this guy is a sick puppy.

Although not so long ago big game hunting was an accepted sport.

Look at photos of Teddy Roosevelt on safari with his trophy kills - not to mention the Brits in Asia and Africa.

Yep thankfully times change unfortunatly ignorance doasnt

rijit

Yeah times change, people these days look to have an argument on the internet, most of the times because of the envy they carry.

Yep, the Internet is a social disease for losers with no life. Incidentally, I am pointing a finger at myself here as I am on here plugging away also. Seriously though, social media is a strange creation for those with no social reality. Interesting how social media is used to try and ruin people with whom some might disagree.

Do most of these people really give two cents about a lion or a dentist? Or are they just bored, looking for a cause and need some place or forum to vent anger in a misdirected fashion.

Celebrities the opportunist, bored people looking for a cause, angry people looking to vent . . ., but do they do anything in real life to help animals in Africa? Sure some do and there are honorable, the rest are well . . .

. . . And then those calling for the life if the doctor! Chello! Advocate for precious life while calling for pain and death of a human life. Yep, real winners there.

Edited September 7, 2015 by capcc76

[TerrylSky]

Seems he's trying to water down the world wide outrage, and isn't very remorseful if at all. People like him make me sick; people that have to sport hunt or fish just to kill a beautiful animal and be a big shot (without a need to harvest the meat). This planet is going down the drain environmentally and ecologically and yet there are professionals(?) like him blowing away creatures just to get his rocks off. He's an ass.

[MaeJoMTB]

There is a not subtle difference between hunting a trophy and hunting for sustainable food. All animals die and those that greet you on your plate every day live and die in miserable conditions. We seem, for the most part, be able to accept this. What most sane people can't accept is killing for fun.

Lots of fishermen seem to be killing for fun.

Nobody objects to that!

[mesquite]

So far Dr Palmer hasn't been charged with any crime. Lots of people kill animals and the rest of us pay others to kill them for us.

We should let the legal process take its course.

Edited September 7, 2015 by mesquite

[CMHomeboy78]

A lot of indignation has been expressed in this thread, and those throwing the stones are perhaps without sin. That wouldn't include me, however.

I grew up in the Hudson Highlands north of New York City during the 1950s and '60s when hunting small game and deer was almost a rite of passage for boys and young men. Just as it had been for the young Algonquin Indians and the sons of the Dutch and English colonists who had been there previously.

What had been a necessity to provide food in former times became a blood sport that we participated in with alacrity. At the age of sixteen I lost interest in hunting as well as fishing and never missed them because other interests took their place.

What motivated Dr.Palmer I don't know, maybe he had a childhood similar to mine and never outgrew it - a case of arrested development - or maybe he's just a <deleted>. Either way, Cecil's dead and nothing is going to bring him back.

[silver sea]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The Minnesota dentist whose killing of Cecil the lion sparked a global backlash emerged for an interview in which he disputed some accounts of the hunt, expressed agitation at the animosity directed at those close to him and said he would be back at work within days.

So he thinks that it's safe for him to return to work?! Hahaha

[Jonmarleesco]

'An avid sportsman ...' Right. He has the same image of what sport is as foxhunting enthusiasts.

'"I don't understand that level of humanity to come after people not involved at all," Palmer said.' I imagine the lion might have uttered the same plea. But while Palmer's family didn't participate, they are undoubtedly involved.

'"I've been out of the public eye. That doesn't mean I'm in hiding," Palmer said ...' Nah, of course not.

Edited September 7, 2015 by Jonmarleesco

[SinCityGr8One]

It's part of the BIG 5 Game to hunt for. Big deal "Cecil the Lion", as if the lion knew he had a name. I would have shot him with my Remington Model 700 Safari .458 Magnum myself, if given the opportunity. How many villagers or kids did this beast take and eat knowingly/unknowingly? Wah, this Bast*ard shot a Trophy Lion. Big Deal, nothing to see here folks, just move along. There's so much other <deleted> in this world going on, who really cares about this probable man eating beast? Bam, Bam! 1 shot to the chest, 1 shot to the head. Stuffed and mounted in my Trophy Room. For all the crying and groaning in this Forum, it's like all you crybabies actually feed a Lion 45 Kg's. of meat a day! Get a Life! IMHO.

[Kannikapor88]

I have a strong feeling that its not gonna end good for this psycho dentist ....

[Anthony5]

I have a strong feeling that its not gonna end good for this psycho dentist ....

Don't worry, the psycho's wont move from behind their keyboard.

[capcc76]

I have a strong feeling that its not gonna end good for this psycho dentist ....

Don't worry, the psycho's wont move from behind their keyboard.

Lol, that is why they are keyboard warriors. Bent up aggression from an inability to confront in person or stand up for themselves their entire life. Easy to be a Internet bully from behind a keyboard.

Look, dude took out a lion with a now. You don't think he could take out an Internet computer geek or two?

[speedtripler]

I have a strong feeling that its not gonna end good for this psycho dentist ....

Don't worry, the psycho's wont move from behind their keyboard.

Lol, that is why they are keyboard warriors. Bent up aggression from an inability to confront in person or stand up for themselves their entire life. Easy to be a Internet bully from behind a keyboard.

Look, dude took out a lion with a now. You don't think he could take out an Internet computer geek or two?

Good luck with that lol

Not all people who use computers are still like Steve jobs or bill Gates...

Modern murderers, terrorists and lunatics are all taught to be computer literate from a very young age...

A lot of the bullying, suicides and gang violence etc has been started or fuelled online, a lot of cases especially on Facebook becoming more prevalent