Surrounded by a police escort, Walter Palmer returned to work as protestors harangued him.
By Raif Karerat
Walter Palmer, the Minnesota-based dentist who provoked international outrage and derision when he hunted and killed one of Africa’s most beloved lions, returned to work Tuesday while throngs of protestors lined up outside his office, shouting, “Murderer!”
The 55-year-old dentist and trophy hunter went into hiding over the summer in order to let the controversy surrounding him simmer down, but he broke his silence Sunday, telling the Associated Press and Minneapolis Star Tribune in a joint interview: “I’m a health professional. I need to get back to treating my patients. My staff and my patients support me, and they want me back. That’s why I’m back.”
The Star Tribune reported Tuesday morning that Palmer arrived at his office at around 7 a.m. local time, with “a modest police presence nearby.” Returning to work for the first time in six weeks, the newspaper said, Palmer was greeted by “a few protesters and many members of the news media.”
Cecil the lion was allegedly lured with bait out of a national park in Zimbabwe — where he is protected by law — to private property where Palmer then shot him with his compound bow and arrow. However, Cecil was only wounded, and after two days of being tracked, he was found and shot with a gun.
Officials in Zimbabwe have called for Palmer’s extradition, but he has yet to be charged with a crime. Theo Bronkhorst, his guide, has been charged with “failure to prevent an illegal hunt,” according to the Associated Press. Furthermore, Honest Ndlovu, a local property owner, faces charges for allowing the men to hunt the lion on his land without getting the proper authorization.
Palmer declined to say whether he might return to Africa, telling the AP and Star Tribune: “I don’t know about the future.”
He was, however, adamant that he has not been “hiding.”
“I’ve been out of the public eye,” he stated. “That doesn’t I mean I’ve been hiding. I’ve been among people, family and friends. The location is really not that important, and I really wouldn’t say. But I haven’t been in hiding.”