1st LD: Zimbabwe asks U.S. to extradite killer of iconic lion

Zimbabwe has asked the United States (U.S.) to extradite Walter Palmer, the American dentist who killed a famous lion in Zimbabwe early this month, to face trial.

Environment Minister Oppah Muchinguri told a press conference in Harare that Zimbabwe's law enforcement agency has sent a request to its U.S. counterpart for Palmer's extradition.

"We are taking this issue very seriously. We want him (Palmer) to be extradited and tried in Zimbabwe," she said.

Palmer is said to have paid to hunt down the 13-year-old lion, known as Cecil, in Hwange national park on July 1, sparking a huge global backlash.

Two Zimbabweans, a professional hunter and a private farm owner, accused of involvement in Palmer's hunt, appeared in court Tuesday for illegal poaching. They were granted bail pending trial due in August.

Muchinguri said Palmer and the two Zimbabweans "deliberately" killed Cecil as they, though on trophy hunting, didn't get permission for hunting lion, and violated local hunting regulations by using a crossbow and arrows to hunt the lion.

"It shows that the whole poaching event was properly orchestrated and well financed to make sure it succeeds," Muchinguri said.

Palmer earlier through his spokesman alleged that he followed his local guide in carrying out the hunt and didn't know it was illegal.

An online petition to the White House, requesting Palmer's extradition, has gained more than 500,000 signatures with animal lovers kept protesting in front of the dentist's office in Minnesota, blocking its entrance with stuffed animals and wreaths.

If convicted in Zimbabwe, Palmer could be jailed up to ten years over poaching.

The hunt is meanwhile said to have exposed financial difficulties facing Zimbabwe's wildlife conservation authority as official figures show trophy hunting generates some 40 million U.S. dollars annually for the country.

Part of the revenue is used in wildlife conservation and for aiding impoverished local communities whose cattle are said to be preyed on by wild animals from time to time. Endit