The tourist who paid thousands of pounds to kill one of Zimbabwe’s most cherished lions has been identified as an American dentist. 
 
 Authorities in Zimbabwe say Walter Palmer, from Minneapolis, paid a $55,000 (£35,000) bribe to wildlife guides to allow him to shoot the lion, named Cecil, with a crossbow. 
 
 The 13-year-old animal was found beheaded and skinned near the Hwange National Park, where he was beloved by tourists and local residents alike. 
 
 Dr Palmer, who is described as an “experienced general and cosmetic dentist” on his practice’s website, is married with two children. 
 
 His professional biography describes his enjoyment of “outdoor activities”, adding: “Anything allowing him to stay active and observe and photograph wildlife is where you will find Dr Palmer when he is not in the office.” 
 
 The dentist’s Facebook page was being inundated with angry comments and threats today as he was identified as Cecil’s killer. 
 
 “Nothing in this world would give me greater pleasure than to see your head mounted on a wall, your carcass defiled, degraded and paraded as you did to Cecil and near countless other animals,” one person wrote. 
 
 The hunting of lions remains legal in Zimbabwe 
 
 Johnny Rodrigues, chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, identified Mr Palmer to The Independent and said anyone convicted of involvement in the illegal hunt could face up to 10 years in prison. 
 
 He added: “The head – his trophy – has been impounded and confiscated as evidence for the court in Victoria Falls”. 
 
 Mr Rodrigues had previously described Cecil as “one of the most beautiful animals to look at” and said he “never bothered anybody”. 
 
 Zimbabwe, like many African countries, is battling to curb illegal hunting and poaching threatening its endangered wildlife and conservationists fear Cecil’s death will have a knock-on effect. 
 
 The lion’s cubs could die as other male lions take his place in the pride and kill the lionesses’ offspring in to encourage them to mate. 
 
 Cecil lived in Hwange National Park, where he was well-known and loved by locals and visitors 
 
 Mr Palmer and his accomplices are believed to have lured Cecil out of the protection of the national park using bait and shot him with the bow – a silent weapon increasingly used by hunters trying to evade arrest. 
 
 But the arrow did not kill the lion immediately. Tracking data from his GPS collar linked to researchers at Oxford University showed he was followed for 40 hours before being shot dead with a rifle. 
 
 The Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association confirmed in a Facebook post last week that the hunter in charge of the safari was one of its members and had been suspended. 
 
 The most controversial animal killings 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 show all The most controversial animal killings 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1/6 Cincinnati Zoo worker shots and kills Harambe, the 17-year-old gorilla Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla was shot and killed by a Cincinnati Zoo worker after a three-year-old boy climbed into a gorilla enclosure and was grabbed and dragged by Harambe. The incident was recorded on video and received broad international coverage and commentary, including controversy over the choice to kill Harambe. A number of primatologists and conservationists wrote later that the zoo had no other choice under the circumstances, and that it highlighted the danger of zoo animals in close proximity to humans and the need for better standards of care Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden 
 
 2/6 Walt Palmer (left), from Minnesota, who killed Cecil, the Zimbabwean lion (pictured here with another lion shot in Africa) Walter James Palmer has been named by Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force as the shooter of Cecil, a 13-year-old prized lion. He is now wanted by Zimbabwe officials on poaching charges. The lion was protected and the subject of a decade long study by the Wildlife Unit of Oxford University in the UK. He was outfitted with a GPS collar and was killed in Hwange National Park. The Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority and the Safari Operators Association said that two men were charged with poaching in connection to Mr Palmer 
 
 3/6 Kendall Jones hunting images Kendall Jones, a 19-year-old Texas Tech university student, has provoked worldwide fury after posting pictures of herself smiling next to animals she hunted, including a lion, rhinoceros, antelope, leopard, elephant, zebra and hippopotamus 
 
 4/6 Rebecca Francis hunting images Rebecca Francis, a huntress who has killed dozens of wild animals has been sent death wishes by furious social media users after a picture showing her lying down next to a dead giraffe was circulated. Rebecca Francis has a website and Facebook page dedicated to the animals she has killed in hunts across Africa and America. Francis, a prolific hunter who has also co-hosted the television show Eye of the Hunter, regularly posts pictures of herself posing next to dead bears, giraffes, buffaloes and zebras, among other animals. She uses a bow and arrow to kill her prey 
 
 5/6 The slaughter of Marius, an 18-month-old healthy giraffe in Copenhagen Zoo Copenhagen Zoo made the controversial decision to euthanise a healthy giraffe named Marius, which was later dissected and fed to lions as visitors watched. The slaughter sparked a furious backlash from social media users and zoo staff have received death threats by phone and email. Soon after the incident, Copenhagen Zoo faced an international outcry once again after four healthy lions were put down 
 
 6/6 Swiss Dählhölzli zoo kills healthy brown bear cub A Switzerland zoo faced heavy criticism from animal rights groups, after keepers put down a healthy brown bear cub to spare it from being bullied by its dominant male father. The 360 kg male bear Misha had already killed one of his 11-week old cubs in public and was bullying the second, staff at the zoo said, because he was jealous of the attention the cubs were receiving from their mother, Masha. Both adult brown bears had been donated to Bern’s Dählhölzli zoo in 2009. Campaigners condemned staff there for not separating the cubs, who are being referred to as Baby Bear Two and Baby Bear Three, and their mother from Misha after their birth in January Facebook 
 
 “ZPHGA reiterates it will not tolerate any illegal hunting or any unethical practices by any of its members and their staff,” a statement said. 
 
 A guide from local firm Bushman Safaris and the owner of the land where Cecil died have been arrested over the killing on 6 July. 
 
 Hunter Theo Bronchorst and landowner Honest Trymore Ndlovu were due to face illegal hunting charges in a court in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWM) said. 
 
 On its Facebook page, Bushman Safaris describes itself as a family business offering “top quality hunts with maximum results”, specialising in killing lepoards. 
 
 “Hunters do far more for conservation of our wildlife than anti-hunters whom probably almost 100% have never even seen or been around our wildlife,” a post said earlier this year. ||||| Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist who shot dead Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe , asked to kill a massive elephant after shooting the protected animal – but was unable to find one sufficiently large enough, his guide has exclusively told The Telegraph. 
 
 Speaking for the first time since this newspaper revealed that Dr Palmer had fired the arrow that felled the much-loved lion, Theo Bronkhorst has given a detailed account of the July 1 hunt which, he said, went wrong from the start. 
 
 On Wednesday, Mr Bronkhorst appeared before magistrates in Hwange, north-western Zimbabwe, and was remanded on bail. He is forbidden from continuing with his hunting business, which he has run since 1992, and has been left devastated by the international fury directed at him since Cecil’s death . 
 
 His account of how Cecil came to be killed suggests there was confusion from the outset of Dr Palmer’s trip. 
 
 “This hunt… Oh no, it went wrong from the beginning,” Mr Bronkhorst said, speaking from his home in Zimbabwe’s second city of Bulawayo. 
 
 “When Dr Palmer arrived in Bulawayo, his luggage was missing and I was dashing around looking for it. So we were late getting ready to go,” he said. 
 
 “And we were never meant to hunt on the land where this lion was shot. At the last minute I had to divert from a concession [hunting area] about eight miles away.” 
 
 Dr Palmer, an enthusiastic game hunter, paid £35,000 for his permit to shoot a lion. 
 
 The killing of Cecil – which had been tagged with a collar as part of a research project run by Oxford University – has caused an international outcry that has forced the dentist into hiding. 
 
 
 
 Last photograph of Cecil with his pack friend Jericho (standing) a month before he was killed (Brent Stapelkamp) 
 
 The Government expressed its dismay on Thursday, with David Cameron saying that Britain intends to play a “leading role” in fighting the illegal wildlife trade. Grant Shapps, the minister for Africa and former Tory chairman, has written to the Zimbabwean environment minister to call for an Africa-wide ban on “barbaric hunting” in the wake of an act he described as “revolting”. 
 
 The land on which Cecil was shot was a farm called Antoinette, which borders Hwange national park. It is currently occupied by Honest Ndlovu – who appeared in court alongside Mr Bronkhorst on Wednesday, but has not been charged with illegal hunting. His lawyer, Tonderai Mukuku said he may have to become a state witness against Mr Bronkhorst. 
 
 Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Bronkhorst explained that, on the night of July 1, he was accompanied by his son Zane, also a professional hunter; his client, Dr Palmer; and a scout sent by Mr Ndlovu. 
 
 “We set off quite late, with the sun down, and found the carcass of an elephant which we dragged and moved into the long grass and used for bait,” he said. “We then established the ‘tree blind’ [a camouflaged hide made of tree branches and grass]. 
 
 “Once we were established, and it was quiet, we first saw a lioness go past. And then a huge male – Cecil – came into view behind her. He was a magnificent animal. 
 
 “The client then fired using a bow and arrow, and it went away into the long grass. This was about 10 pm.” 
 
 Mr Bronkhorst said he had a sense that the lion was hit, but could not be sure. 
 
 “Bow and arrow wounds are different to gun wounds, and they don’t show much. But we couldn’t do anything that night.” 
 
 The four men went home for the night before returning to search for Cecil at dawn the next day. 
 
 “I was worried about the lion and what had happened,” said Mr Bronkhorst. 
 
 “We got there about 9am, and we found it and it was wounded, and the client then shot it, with his bow and arrow, and killed it.” 
 
 It was then the hunters went over to it, and saw it had a collar. 
 
 “I was devastated,” said Mr Bronkhorst, who immediately saw that he had killed a protected lion. 
 
 “I could not have seen the collar at night. We would never shoot a collared animal. I was devastated, and so was the client, we were both upset, and I panicked and took it off and put it in a tree. 
 
 “I should have taken it to Parks [the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlfe Management Authority], I admit that. So we did what had to be done. We took the head and skin, as the client had paid for the trophy. 
 
 “I went to Parks and reported what had happened. I wish I had taken the collar. 
 
 “We then went back to my place near Hwange. The client asked if we would find him an elephant larger than 63 pounds, [the weight of one tusk] which is a very large elephant, but I told him I would not be able to find one so big, so the client left the next day and went to Bulawayo for the night and then flew out [to Johannesburg] midday the following day. 
 
 “He was only here for a few days. He shot the lion he wanted to shoot, he paid for the trophy, which is the skull and skin. I took it to Bulawayo where we were curing it, prior to it going to a taxidermist for export to the US where it would be assembled and mounted. They do that better there then we do it here.” 
 
 Mr Bronkhorst said his lawyer advised him after the opening of the court case to hand over the head and skin to the parks authority. 
 
 “I never knew anything about Cecil, this famous lion,” he said. “I only found out from the media. I would not have known him anyway. 
 
 “There were four other collared lions shot in the same area this year. If I had been able to take the client where we were due to be, this would not have happened.” 
 
 Mr Bronkhorst started his hunting business after being violently evicted from his 1,269-hectare game farm, Southcum, near Kwekwe, in central Zimbabwe, as part of the Mugabe government’s land grab. 
 
 “I don’t want to shoot any animals. I do it because it is the only way I can earn a living,” said Mr Bronkhorst, who is married with two grown-up sons. 
 
 “I am a farmer. But I lost my farm in 2000 and I am forced to hunt, but have only done so five times in the last year. I like to lead a quiet life. I like breeding game, and am presently trying to increase the number of sable in Zimbabwe, which I am importing from Zambia.” 
 
 In the wake of the furore over Cecil, the United Nations on Thursday passed a resolution committing countries to intensify the fight against wildlife crime. 
 
 
 
 Walter Palmer on a previous hunting trip 
 
 The resolution treats the issue as an aspect of organised crime, urging law enforcement agencies to use anti-money laundering measures to go after perpetrators. 
 
 Steven Broad, Executive Director of Traffic, which monitors the trade in wildlife, said: “This is an historic day – the world has sent an unequivocal and collective signal at the highest level that ending wildlife crime is a top priority.” 
 
 His group estimates that as many as 30,000 elephants are killed each year for their ivory tusks in Africa. 
 
 Rhino poaching in South Africa last year hit a record high, when 1,215 were killed for their horns. 
 
 The UN resolution encourages countries to “adopt effective measures to prevent and counter the serious problem of crimes that have an impact on the environment, such as illicit trafficking in wildlife and wildlife products…as well as poaching.” 
 
 • Cecil the lion - has the reaction tipped dangerously into overreaction? 
 
 • Jimmy Kimmel breaks down over Cecil the lion death 
 
 • Cecil the lion's final photograph ||||| (CNN) Dr. Walter Palmer is nowhere to be found. 
 
 The Minnesota dentist has gone underground in the onslaught of criticism after he killed a prized African lion named Cecil. 
 
 It probably shouldn't come as a surprise; an angry horde of Cecil supporters is calling for his head to be mounted on a wall. 
 
 Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the circumstances surrounding the lion's killing. 
 
 "At this point in time, however, multiple efforts to contact Dr. Walter Palmer have been unsuccessful. We ask that Dr. Palmer or his representative contact us immediately," said Edward Grace, the service's deputy chief of law enforcement. 
 
 #CecilTheLion #CNN reporting Dr. Palmer seeking to cooperate. EZ to do. U or ur representative please contact #USFWS immediately. — Dan Ashe (@DirectorDanAshe) July 30, 2015 
 
 CNN knocked on the door of his Minneapolis home, but no one answered. 
 
 His practice, River Bluff Dental, is shuttered, at least for now. A memorial of plush animals piles up at the door. 
 
 In a letter dated July 28 to his patients, Palmer said the hunting controversy "has disrupted our business and our ability to see our patients." 
 
 "For that disruption, I apologize profoundly for this inconvenience and promise you that we will do our best to resume normal operations as soon as possible," he said in the letter obtained by CNN affiliate WCCO. 
 
 Out of his hide 
 
 As Palmer went into hiding, it appeared the Internet world was at his doorstep with pitchforks and torches. 
 
 The website for the dental practice is no longer available online. 
 
 Online reviews are trashing his business. 
 
 The hashtag #WalterPalmer is being used to pepper him with threats and insults. 
 
 What's the uproar about? 
 
 Palmer is in the public crosshairs after the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said Cecil the lion was lured out of an animal sanctuary in Zimbabwe and shot with a crossbow. 
 
 But his death wasn't immediate. 
 
 Cecil lived another 40 hours until the hunters tracked him down and shot him with a gun. He was then skinned and beheaded. 
 
 The hunters also tried to destroy the GPS collar that Cecil was wearing as part of research backed by Oxford University, the conservation group said. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Cecil the lion's killer thought hunt was legal Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Cecil the lion's killer thought hunt was legal 01:52 
 
 "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 said Tuesday in a statement. "I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt." 
 
 Two Zimbabweans have been charged in the case and officials in the African nation say they want to talk to Palmer. The undercover dentist has indicated that he'll cooperate, although he said in a statement that he had yet to be contacted by anyone about the investigation. 
 
 The killing garnered international attention. 
 
 "I think like most people in the world, we are outraged at what happened to this poor lion," Harald Braun, Germany's ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters Thursday. 
 
 Braun spoke minutes after the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling on all countries to crack down on illegal wildlife trafficking and poaching. The vote came after two years of work on the resolution and was not tied to Cecil's death. 
 
 Cecil's killing doesn't appear to be the first time Palmer has gotten into trouble while hunting. 
 
 A man by the same name and age, and from the same town, illegally killed a black bear in Wisconsin several years ago, according to court documents. 
 
 That individual pleaded guilty to making false statements knowingly to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and was sentenced to one year on probation and ordered to pay a fine of nearly $3,000, records show. 
 
 A New York Times article in 2009 that profiled Palmer and his hunting methods said he had served a year of probation over the false statements case. 
 
 The Times article detailed Palmer's skill and enthusiasm for using archery rather than firearms to slay animals. 
 
 He is "said to be capable of skewering a playing card from 100 yards with his compound bow," it said, recounting his killing of a large elk with an arrow in Northern California. 
 
 Outside the office 
 
 The mood outside River Bluff Dental was peaceful but ugly Wednesday. Hundreds of protesters gathered there, WCCO reported. 
 
 "I just came down here to express my disgust at what he did," Alan Miller told the station. 
 
 Sarah Madison brought her son, dressed in a lion costume. "I said we're going to come and we're going to honor Cecil's life." 
 
 #CecilTheLion protestors come in all shapes & sizes at the dental office of big game hunter Walter Palmer. pic.twitter.com/4kAoWfgiJl — Paul Blume (@PaulBlume_FOX9) July 29, 2015 
 
 Above the menagerie of stuffed animals at the door, posters now cover the front facade of the practice. 
 
 One sign asked, "Dr. Palmer, why did you kill Cecil?" Another said, "Rot in hell." A third employed the hashtag #catlivesmatter. 
 
 The vitriol for Palmer even flowed from the governor's mansion. 
 
 "I'm just so disgusted with that man," said Gov. Mark Dayton. "Shoot any lion but lure a lion like that out of the preserve and shoot him, how could anybody think that's sport? Just appalling." 
 
 And the mood in the area of Palmer's home, in Eden Prairie, was dicey enough for police to issue a statement saying they were protecting the area -- although Palmer could fend for himself. 
 
 "Because of the increased traffic in the neighborhood of Walter Palmer's residence, the Eden Prairie Police Department is monitoring the neighborhood to ensure the safety and security of the residents and their property," the statement read. "The Eden Prairie Police Department is not providing personal protection for Mr. Palmer." 
 
 With the storm of criticism continuing to brew, it may be quite some time before the hunter, now hunted, feels like it's safe to come out.
– It's the dawn of a new, uncomfortable day for Dr. Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist who achieved infamy yesterday when it was revealed he was the hunter who felled the beloved lion Cecil in Zimbabwe. The New York Times and Washington Post today have more on how Palmer and his guides lured the 13-year-old lion out of his sanctuary in Hwange National Park: According to the chair of the non-governmental Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, Palmer's party sighted the lion at night using a spotlight, and affixed a dead animal to their car to lead Cecil from the reserve into unprotected territory. It claims the men scented an area about three-tenths of a mile from the park. Cecil was first injured by a shot from Palmer's crossbow, then killed nearly two days later by Palmer, via gun. Chair Johnny Rodrigues alleges that "the hunters then found that the dead lion was wearing a [GPS] tracking collar, which they unsuccessfully tried to hide." Cecil was skinned and beheaded, and his body "left to rot in the sun," as the Times puts it. Rodrigues yesterday said the head has been tracked down and impounded as evidence, reports the Guardian. The BBC adds that it's thought Cecil was killed July 1, though his corpse wasn't found until days later. Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority and the Safari Operators Association say "ongoing investigations to date suggest that the killing of the lion was illegal since the land owner was not allocated a lion on his hunting quota for 2015. Therefore, all persons implicated in this case are due to appear in court facing poaching charges." Professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst and landowner Honest Ndlovu accompanied Palmer and are making that court appearance today; the poaching charges carry up to 15 years. A parks and wildlife rep told the Post professional hunters and landowners are usually the first to be charged in these instances. Palmer is reportedly being sought in connection with the case. Here's what Palmer has to say.