U.S. hunter faces fierce criticism for killing Zimbabwe's Cecil the Lion

A wealthy American dentist killed Zimbabwe's beloved Cecil the Lion with a bow and arrow in Hwange National Park, triggering cross-border rage, a safari industry group said Tuesday.

The "almost semi-domesticated" lion, a popular attraction among thousands of tourists at home and abroad, was lured out of the national park and killed after enduring 40 hours in pain earlier this month.

Thirteen-year-old Cecil, who attracted 50,000 visitors last year, half of which came from abroad, was well-known as Zimbabwe's "iconic" animal due to his distinctive black mane.

"A lot of people travel long distances to come to Zimbabwe to enjoy our wildlife and obviously, the absence of Cecil is a disaster," Emmanuel Fundira, president of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, said at a news conference in the capital Harare.

The hunter was identified as Walter James Palmer, a dentist and experienced trophy hunter from the U.S. state of Minnesota, who had paid50,000 U.S. dollars for the hunt.

The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force charity confirmed that Palmer, accompanied by professional Zimbabwean hunter Theo Bronkhorst, "shot Cecil with a bow and arrow but this shot didn't kill him. They tracked him down and found him 40 hours later when they shot him with a gun."

"Cecil was skinned and beheaded. We don't know the whereabouts of the head," the charity said, adding that the hunters had failed in the attempt to hide the dead lion's tracking collar, which was part of a research program at Cambridge University.

In pursuit of leopards, buffalo, rhino, elk and other large mammals, Palmer traveled across the world, having risen to fame in the United States.

His dentistry's website and Facebook page have been shut down on Tuesday after being flooded with scathing remarks.

A makeshift memorial began forming outside his shuttered office while an online petition demanding justice for Cecil had drawn 95,000 signatures.

"It's not for food. It's not the shooting, or tin cans would do. It must just be the thrill of killing. Mental," British comedian Ricky Gervais tweeted.

Zimbabwean hunter Bronkhorst and local land owner Honest Ndlovu are being jointly charged for illegally hunting the lion, whose cubs are likely to be killed by the lion taking over in the group's hierarchy, according to the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.

"Both the professional hunter and land owner had no permit or quota to justify the offtake of the lion and therefore are liable for the illegal hunt," the Zimbabwean Parks Authority said in a statement Tuesday.

The statement made no mention of Palmer, but said that Bronkhorst's son Zane was also wanted for questioning. Endi