A Minnesota man is reportedly responsible for killing a beloved lion in Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF) says that Walter Palmer, who is a practicing dentist in a Minneapolis suburb, shot 13-year-old lion Cecil with a crossbow, and the animal was killed later with a gun, the
BBC is reporting.
Cecil was a popular tourist attraction at the country's Hwange National Park.
Palmer was helped by two locals, one who was a professional hunter and the other a farmer. The two are now
facing poaching charges in Zimbabwe because the hunting expedition took place without a permit. If they are convicted, they could face up to 15 years in prison.
The ZCTF is reporting that the group lured Cecil outside the Hwange National Park with bait during a nighttime hunt. Cecil was then shot by Palmer with a crossbow on July 1, which injured the lion. The animal was found 40 hours later, and shot.
The Minnesota dentist reportedly paid $54,000 to take part in the hunt.
The
ZCTF had originally reported that the lion was killed by a Spanish hunter.
Cecil was part of research program, which was led by Oxford University. The lion wore a GPS tracking device on a collar, which the hunting group tried to destroy but were unsuccessful, the ZCTF said.
The conservation group reported Palmer's identity to the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority.
Palmer told
The Minneapolis Star Tribune that "some things are being misrepresented" in the report. He was expected to release a statement with more details later Tuesday.
According to the Star Tribune, Palmer has participated in several large animal hunts before, including a leopard he killed in 2010.
He was convicted of poaching a bear in Wisconsin in 2008 in an area of the state where bear hunting was illegal, after he had told state officials that he had killed the bear in a legal hunting zone.
Palmer could have gone to prison for five years for the crime, but he only ended up serving one year on probation along with paying a $3,000 fine.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.