A big-game hunter from the Twin Cities found himself at the center of an international firestorm Tuesday over the death of a beloved lion in Zimbabwe, but said he regrets killing the animal and believed his guides were leading him on a legal hunt. 
 
 Read the latest in this ongoing story. 
 
 Walter J. Palmer of Eden Prairie, a practicing dentist in Bloomington and a prominent bow-and-arrow hunter, issued a statement addressing the killing on July 1 of Cecil, a lion that was a favorite among tourists and wildlife researchers. 
 
 “I hired several professional guides, and they secured all proper permits,” Palmer’s statement read. “To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled. 
 
 “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. I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt.” 
 
 Zimbabwe game officials said Tuesday that two of Palmer’s guides are facing charges in the incident and that they “are looking for Palmer.” 
 
 A dog sniffed at stuffed animals placed Tuesday at the front door of River Bluff Dental in Bloomington, owned by Dr. Walter Palmer, who has come under fire for the killing of a beloved lion in Zimbabwe named Cecil. 
 
 Palmer, 55, who pleaded guilty to a license violation after shooting a black bear in Wisconsin in 2008, said he has not been contacted by any authorities in Zimbabwe or the U.S., but added that he will cooperate with investigators. The public-relations firm that worked with Palmer on the statement said he was in the Twin Cities on Tuesday. 
 
 “Again, I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion,” the statement concluded. 
 
 Read more: What we know about Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist accused of killing Cecil the lion 
 
 Read more: Hunter, author, longtime acquaintance defends Walter Palmer 
 
 Earlier Tuesday, the Telegraph newspaper of London identified Palmer as the hunter who shot Cecil and reported that he paid $54,000 for the hunt. The Telegraph said the lion was illegally lured out of Hwange National Park, where it had protected status, and onto a neighboring game farm, where Palmer was on safari. 
 
 Palmer’s dentist office on Rhode Island Avenue was closed Tuesday, apparently abruptly. One client showed up for an appointment, unaware of the global turmoil surrounding his dentist. 
 
 A profile on Palmer’s business website said that he is from North Dakota and that he graduated from the University of Minnesota dental school. He and his wife live in Eden Prairie, about 2½ miles from his practice. They have two children. A knock at the door Tuesday brought no response. A neighbor described the Palmers as very private. 
 
 As the Telegraph’s report and subsequent news coverage spread on the Internet, commenters took to the Facebook page of Palmer’s River Bluff Dental with a vengeance. 
 
 “You utter scum,” one of many hostile comments read. “You should be in jail, and you should hang your head in shame.” The Yelp page on Palmer’s dental practice was inundated with hostile comments, and by midevening, nearly 200,000 people had signed an online petition condemning the incident organized by an online group known as Care2. 
 
 Late Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., urged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Justice to investigate whether the killing violated any endangered-species laws. 
 
 Chelsea Hassler, outreach director with the Twin Cities-based Animal Rights Coalition, said her group and “many outraged citizens” intend to protest outside Palmer’s office on Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 By late Tuesday afternoon, small stuffed lions had been left at Palmer’s home and dental office. 
 
 Lists 43 kills 
 
 Palmer’s kills are listed by an organization called Safari Club International, a big-game hunting group that claims 55,000 members worldwide, including about 1,000 in Minnesota. 
 
 The club keeps a detailed record book in which members display photos, measurements and other information about animals they have killed. Palmer lists 43 kills, all by bow and arrow. His list includes moose, deer, buffalo, a polar bear and a mountain lion. 
 
 A photo posted in the record book from 2005 shows him kneeling behind a lion, with his bow propped up against the animal. The book also documents with a photo that he shot an African elephant in Zimbabwe in 2013. 
 
 People familiar with the safari industry refused to comment Tuesday on Palmer’s case, but said it is normal for hunters to place themselves in the hands of hired guides and local outfitters. 
 
 Jeff Martinell of Troy, Pa., who books African trips as the owner of Luxury Hunts, said it’s up to the guides, also called professional hunters, to know the laws and regulations of a lion hunt, including whether the hunters are on preserve land or shooting at a protected animal. 
 
 “If he bought a lion hunt and they take him on a lion hunt, he [doesn’t] know where you’re going,” Martinell said. “The finger should be pointed at the professional hunter, not the hunter himself.” 
 
 Martinell also said it is common practice to lure big game with bait, apparently the tactic used in Cecil’s death. “You find a lion, put the bait out and wait for the lion to come in,” he said. 
 
 Bob Lange of rural Glenwood, Minn., has hunted in Zimbabwe five times, and once, at the government’s request, shot a lion that had killed six people. 
 
 While stressing that he is unfamiliar with the specifics of Palmer’s hunt and that he doesn’t know Palmer, Lange said the case appears typical of trophy hunting in Zimbabwe. 
 
 “If what I understand about the hunt is accurate, nothing seems unusual or illegal about it,” Lange said, “unless the landowner didn’t have a hunting permit. But if that was the case, you, the hunter, would have no way to know. You’re in the outfitter’s hands.” 
 
 Guilty plea in Wisconsin 
 
 The incident is not Palmer’s first brush with authorities. 
 
 In 2008, he pleaded guilty in federal court in Wisconsin to misleading a federal agent in connection with the hunting of a black bear. Two years earlier, Palmer had killed a bear near Phillips, in Price County. That location was 40 miles outside of the zone where he held a permit to hunt bear. 
 
 Palmer and others transported the bear carcass to a registration station inside the allowed hunting zone, according to court documents, and at the station, he falsely certified that the bear had been killed in the legal zone. Facing a maximum penalty of five years in prison, Palmer was sentenced to one year’s probation and fined nearly $3,000. 
 
 In the spring of 2003, Palmer was convicted in Otter Tail County in western Minnesota and paid a small fine for fishing without a license, a misdemeanor. 
 
 And in 2009, Palmer agreed to a settlement with the Minnesota Board of Dentistry over allegations that he sexually harassed a receptionist. She alleged that Palmer made comments about her breasts, buttocks and genitalia. 
 
 Without admitting guilt, Palmer settled and paid $127,500 to the woman, who also was his patient. 
 
 The settlement included references to his bear-hunting conviction and “substandard record keeping.” 
 
 Poaching charges 
 
 The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe said Tuesday that a local guide and a farm owner are facing poaching charges and that they are expected in court Wednesday. 
 
 “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 joint statement said. It did not address any legal consequences for Palmer. 
 
 The statement said Theo Bronkhorst, a professional guide with Bushman Safaris, is believed to have lured the lion to Honest Trymore Ndlovu’s farm, where it was killed. Its carcass was discovered days later by trackers, the statement said. 
 
 During a nighttime pursuit, the hunters tied a dead animal to their car to lure the lion out of the national park, said Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force. Palmer shot the lion with a bow and arrow, injuring it. The wounded lion was found 40 hours later and shot dead with a gun, Rodrigues said in the statement. 
 
 The lion was skinned and beheaded. 
 
 The hunters tried to destroy the lion’s collar, fitted with a tracking device, but failed, the statement said. Zimbabwe authorities said in their statement that the “lion trophy has been confiscated.” 
 
 “The saddest part of all is that now that Cecil is dead, the next lion in the hierarchy, Jericho, will most likely kill all Cecil’s cubs,” Rodrigues said. 
 
 The conservation group said Cecil, recognizable by his black mane, was part of an Oxford University research program. Tourists regularly spotted his characteristic mane in the park over the past 13 years, said LionAid, also a conservation group. 
 
 In 2009, the New York Times featured Palmer in a report from northern California, where Palmer was hunting elk. He told the newspaper that he can hit a playing card from 100 yards with his compound bow and that he eschews bringing a firearm as a backup. 
 
 “I don’t have a golf game,” he said of his devotion to hunting, adding that he learned to shoot at age 5. ||||| Video (01:24) : The U.S. dentist whose killing of Cecil the lion fueled a global backlash emerged Sunday for an interview. Dr. Walter Palmer did not allow any pictures or record his voice. 
 
 The Twin Cities big-game hunter who killed a much-beloved lion in Zimbabwe during what has been called a poaching expedition ended several weeks of silence Sunday and said he will resume his Bloomington dental practice Tuesday morning in hopes of getting his professional and personal life back on track. 
 
 Read the full transcript of Sunday's interview here. 
 
 Walter J. Palmer, of Eden Prairie, meeting face to face in Minneapolis with two reporters for his first interview since Cecil the lion’s death, fielded questions for 20 minutes about his safari hunt in early July and the passionate worldwide condemnation that has compelled him to keep a low profile. 
 
 The 55-year-old Bloomington dentist, who has yet to be charged with a crime, on Sunday also reaffirmed what he has said since he was identified by London news media six weeks ago as the hunter who took down Cecil with a compound bow: that the hunt was legal and that he and the others in his party had no clue that the lion was the revered 13-year-old with the distinctive black mane. 
 
 Palmer declined to address whether he would abide by any request, either informal or through extradition proceedings, to return to Zimbabwe to answer legal allegations. 
 
 "I have a lot of staff members at River Bluff Dental. I’m a little heartbroken at the disruption in their lives, and I’m a health professional," said the casually dressed Palmer, calm and all business, during the back and forth as attorney Joe Friedberg and a public relations consultant flanked him in what the dentist said would be his only media availability. 
 
 Dr. Walter Palmer, during mission work in Guatemala 
 
 "I need to get back to treating my patients," the dentist continued. "My staff and my patients support me, and they want me back. That’s why I’m back. I’ll be coming back this week." 
 
 When Palmer was asked about the hunt itself, he cited his initial statement in defense of his actions, while Friedberg said, “Everything was done properly. This was a legal hunt for a lion in Zimbabwe. And because of the professionalism of the people who had to help him, a lion was taken.” 
 
 Palmer would only say that he wounded the lion, tracked it and finished it off with another arrow in far less time than the 40 hours cited in earlier news accounts. 
 
 Not hiding 
 
 As for where the dentist has been since the Telegraph newspaper of London broke the news that it was Palmer who felled Cecil, he said, “I’ve been out of the public eye, and I've been seeing family and friends,” characterizing his time as similar to what he might typically do on a day off from the office. 
 
 Palmer said he was not in hiding, as some media outlets in the U.S. and overseas had stated, adding that he has kept his profile low because of “some safety issues” for his family. 
 
 “It's been especially hard on my wife and daughter,” he said, at times with his forearms on the conference table and hands folded in front of him, other times leaning back, listening intently. 
 
 “They’ve been threatened ... in the social media, and again … I don’t understand that level of humanity to come after people not involved at all.” 
 
 Friedberg said he is an unpaid consultant to the dentist and nothing more, because Palmer “doesn’t need a lawyer” until a government — either Zimbabwean or U.S. — makes a legal claim. 
 
 The prominent Twin Cities defense attorney said Palmer "would receive the proper advice as to what to do. But again, he and I, after a little bit of looking ... we have no reason at this point to believe that’s going to happen." 
 
 Until Sunday, Palmer’s only public utterances about the hunt came early on in the form of a written statement to the news media and an e-mailed update about the fate of his dental practice sent to his patients explaining in general terms his role in the death of Cecil, a tourist favorite and the subject of academic research. 
 
 Palmer said Sunday that he and his safari partners did not know that he had taken a lion that was so dear to Zimbabweans and others. The tracking collar could not be seen during the nighttime hunt amid the animal’s full mane, he said, adding that it is not illegal to take a collared lion. 
 
 Zimbabwean authorities said they want Palmer extradited to face charges, though legal experts have raised doubts that such a diplomatic act would occur for a suspected wildlife crime. Officials of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) said weeks ago that they were investigating Cecil’s killing, but they’ve revealed nothing further since that announcement. 
 
 Friedberg said Sunday that he quickly brought Palmer’s plight to the attention of Andrew Luger, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota, and informed the USFWS that he was acting on the dentist’s behalf. Since those first few days, no federal agency has sought to contact Palmer, Friedberg added. 
 
 A skilled marksman and accomplished big game hunter, Palmer paid a hefty sum for the guided safari hunt outside of Hwange National Park. Authorities in Zimbabwe allege that Cecil was lured from the national park onto a neighboring farm. Palmer said Sunday that reports that he paid $50,000 for the hunt were wrong, but he did not say whether he paid more or less than that amount. 
 
 There’s been no confirmation of what became of Cecil’s corpse, and Palmer was not ready to go into detail about the hunt. 
 
 Relied on guides 
 
 Even after Sunday’s interview, Palmer’s initial written statement offers the greatest detail about what happened. It read in part, “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. I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt.” He went on to express his “regret” for what happened but added that his actions were legal. 
 
 The guide, Theo Bronkhorst, and the property owner, Honest Trymore Ndlovu, have been charged with participating in an illegal hunt and could face prison if convicted. Bronkhorst has said, “We had done everything above board.” 
 
 The lion’s death unleashed a torrent of condemnation around the globe. Late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel fought back tears on the air. Famed wild animal researcher Jane Goodall said she was “shocked and outraged” by Palmer’s “incomprehensible” act. And Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton weighed in, saying, “I don’t understand how anybody thinks that’s a sport. I just think it is horrible.” 
 
 Bloomington clinic reopened 
 
 Protesters, among them children in lion costumes, swarmed Palmer’s shuttered Bloomington dental office the day after Cecil’s death was revealed. Within a few weeks, the office reopened, but with Palmer still absent. 
 
 Bloomington Police Deputy Chief Mike Hartley said Sunday night that “we’re not going to dedicate personnel” upon Palmer’s return [Tuesday]. We still have a security camera out in the lot there. We knew, eventually, he was going to return.” 
 
 African trophy hunting quickly came under attack by various news commentators and stirred new animal welfare activists. Some international airlines said they would no longer ship certain big game that had been taken during hunts on the continent. 
 
 Those who dared speak publicly in Palmer’s defense have been few, in part out of worry for their own safety against the harshest of Palmer’s critics. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called for his hanging. 
 
 Zimbabwe’s first lady, Grace Mugabe, insisted that Palmer “be left alone,” and President Robert Mugabe has pinned the blame on his citizens for failing to protect Cecil. A few fellow Minnesota big-game hunters have spoken up for what they see as an honorable pursuit that helps finance conservation efforts and is vital to the African continent’s economy. 
 
 Not helping Palmer, at least in the public’s perception, is his guilty plea in 2008 for misleading federal authorities about a bear he killed illegally in Wisconsin. He was put on probation and fined. He also was convicted of a misdemeanor for fishing without a license in Minnesota’s Otter Tail County.
– Walter Palmer of Bloomington, Minnesota, just might be the most reviled dentist in the world at the moment. After being identified by the Telegraph as the big-game hunter who illegally shot a protected lion in Africa, Palmer has issued a statement blaming his guides, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “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," says Palmer in a statement. "I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt.” Palmer's whereabouts were unknown today, and his office appears to have been shut quickly, judging by one patient who showed up only to learn it was closed. Palmer, who has a conviction for poaching a bear in the US, promised to cooperate with authorities in Zimbabwe, where the safari took place. In the meantime, he's become Public Enemy No. 1 on the Internet, with death threats and criticism consuming any public pages affiliated with him or his dentistry, notes BuzzFeed. “I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion,” says Palmer's statement.