Recently, American dentist Walter Palmer has come under fire for killing a beloved lion, Cecil, by luring it out of a sanctuary to shoot it.

1. THE STORY OF
WALTER PALMER
BY JEREMY BEDNARSH

2. WHO IS WALTER
PALMER?
• A DENTIST BASED IN
THE MINNEAPOLIS
AREA.
• AN ENTHUSIASTIC
BIG-GAME HUNTER
WHO BELIEVES IN
HUNTING WITH A
BOW AND ARROW.

3. WHAT DID HE DO?
• EARLIER THIS MONTH, WALTER WENT ON A
HUNTING TRIP IN ZIMBABWE, WHERE HE
KILLED A LION.
• THE LION WAS LURED AWAY FROM A
SANCTUARY SO THAT HE COULD BE KILLED.

4. ABOUT THE LION
• THE LION, NAMED CECIL, WAS MUCH LOVED BY
THOSE WHO FREQUENTED HWANGE NATIONAL
PARK, DUE TO HIS REGAL NATURE.
• HE WAS PART OF A STUDY BY OXFORD
UNIVERSITY, AND WHEN HE WAS KILLED HE HAD
A GPS TRACKING DEVICE ATTACHED TO HIM.

5. THE AFTERMATH
• WHILE PALMER PAID $55,000 TO HUNT THE ANIMAL, THE
HUNT WAS ACTUALLY ILLEGAL.
• PALMER’S GUIDE, PROFESSIONAL HUNTER THEO
BRONKHORST, AND FARMER HONEST NDLOVU, ON
WHOSE PROPERTY THE LION WAS KILLED, ARE BOTH
FACING CRIMINAL CHARGES.

6. WALTER PALMER’S PAST
• THIS ISN’T PALMER’S FIRST RUN-IN WITH THE LAW.
• IN 2008, HE FACED PRISON TIME AFTER LYING TO
A FEDERAL AGENT ABOUT HUNTING A BLACK
BEAR IN WISCONSIN.
• WAS ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN 2009.

7. AND NOW…
• WALTER PALMER’S
WHEREABOUTS ARE UNKNOWN.
• HE CLOSED DOWN HIS DENTIST
OFFICE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
• HAS BECOME A TARGET OF
INTERNET VIGILANTISM
• THE DOOR OF HIS OFFICE IS
COVERED WITH A SHRINE OF
STUFFED ANIMALS AND SIGNS
TELLING HIM TO “ROT IN HELL”.
• PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE
MINNEAPOLIS AREA ARE
PROTESTING.