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 The lion was lured out of Hwange National Park using a bait and
was shot by Walter James Palmer, Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of
Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF), told reporters.
LionAid, a conservation group, said Cecil was wounded with a bow and
arrow, and not shot dead until 40 hours later.
Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota who received widespread criticism
on social media for killing Cecil, said on Tuesday he had hired
several professional guides who secured permits for his bow hunting
trip and deeply regretted taking the lion.
"To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly
handled and conducted," Palmer said in a statement posted on the
Star Tribune newspaper website.
Rodrigues said Palmer paid Zimbabwean hunter Theo Bronkhorst and
Honest Ndlovu, a private game park owner, to lure the 13-year-old
lion. Bronkhorst and Ndlovu will face poaching charges on Wednesday
in Hwange for the lion's killing on July 1, he said.
 Palmer said he had not been contacted by authorities in Zimbabwe or
the United States and would assist in any inquiries.
"I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was
collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt," Palmer's
statement said. "I relied on the expertise of my local professional
guides to ensure a legal hunt."
Palmer's hunting has attracted scrutiny in the past. In 2008, he
pleaded guilty to lying to a U.S. wildlife agent about a black bear
he killed in Wisconsin two years before.
Palmer was accused of killing a bear about 40 miles outside his
permitted zone, hauling the carcass back into the approved area and
certifying falsely that it was killed there. He was sentenced to one
year probation and fined $2,938.
Comments posted on Twitter about Palmer included, "You are a
disgusting excuse of a human" and "when does hunting season start on
Walter Palmer."
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Cecil, a distinctive black-maned lion, was a popular attraction at
the Hwange National Park and had featured in many photographic
shoots. Cecil's head and skin were recovered and would be used as
evidence in court, Rodrigues said.
Lions are not a protected species in Zimbabwe. If convicted, the two
men would be required to pay $20,000 in compensation but the court
may impose an additional jail term.
Investigations show the killing of Cecil was illegal because the
land owner was not allocated a lion on his hunting quota for 2015,
Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) and ZCTF
said in a statement.
"Therefore, all persons implicated in this case are due to appear in
court facing poaching charges," the conservationists said.
Zimbabwe issues annual permits allowing foreign hunters to kill
wildlife like the elephant, buffalo and lion, saying this allows it
to raise money for conservation.
(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Additional reporting by David
Bailey in Minneapolis; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Sandra Maler)
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