Here's a little more info to follow up a post I put up in another thread.
I did not write this.Someone else posted this, I saved it and am including it here:
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source:
http://www.banjohangout.org/topic/306988/9Dagnabbit is correct and I was wrong. It is not simple at all.
I've been all over the net looking for trustworthy sites and communicating with my South African colleagues and the situation is muddled. Regardless of the legalities, the land owner, the professional hunter and the dentist have a heap of troubles ahead and are in deep kimpchi.
From the Harare (Mutsaka reported from Harare, Zimbabwe) News:
The two arrested Zimbabwean men — a professional hunter and a farm owner — face poaching charges, the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority and the Safari Operators Association said in a joint statement. Killing the lion was illegal because the farm owner did not have a hunting permit, the joint statement said. 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.
The dentist - who's been in hiding for four days - is facing the threat of prosecution in the U.S. and his international hunting organisation membership has been suspended.
Today, Safari Club International (SCI), which promotes big-game hunting and has about 55,000 members worldwide, issued a statement saying Dr Palmer and Mr Bronkhorst's memberships will be suspended and that it wants a 'full and thorough investigation'.
The club said: 'Those who intentionally take wildlife illegally should be prosecuted and punished to the maximum extent allowed by law.'
Using bait to lure the lion is deemed unethical by the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, of which Bronkhorst was a member until the association revoked his license.
"Ethics are certainly against baiting. Animals are supposed to be given a chance of a fair chase," Emmanuel Fundira, the association's president, said. "In fact, it was not a hunt at all. The animal was baited, and that is not how we do it. It is not allowed."
It was not entirely clear whether baiting is allowed by Zimbabwe law. Fundira said the practice was both unethical and illegal. The conservation group Lion Aid says it is unethical but not expressly forbidden.
From the Daily Mail in the U.K.:
And as his troubles escalate, even the PR firm that Dr Palmer hired to help him deal with the media firestorm has deserted him.
The company, which specialises in 'crisis and issue management, special situations, transactions and transitions' has said they no longer represent the dentist and said another, as-yet unidentified firm had taken on his case.
Today, Edward Grace, deputy chief of law enforcement at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the killing of Cecil.
'That investigation will take us wherever the facts lead,' he said. '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.'
While hunting lions is legal in certain areas of Zimbabwe, more than 600 are killed by “trophy” hunters each year. Hunting lions who live on protected lands, such as Cecil’s home of Hwange National Park, is against the law and considered poaching.
Under Zimbabwe’s laws, officials said, the penalty for the crime of which Palmer is now accused can be up to 15 years behind bars. Palmer’s guide on the hunt that killed Cecil, Theo Bronkhurst, now faces that penalty.
Also arrested and facing the charges was Zimbabwean farmer Honest Ndlovu, who owned the land to which Cecil was lured using the temptation of food as “bait.” Though hunting lions on Ndlovu’s land would be legal if the lions were native to that property, tricking lions into leaving the park so they can be killed is against the law.
The United States has a strong extradition treaty with Zimbabwe that was signed by President Bill Clinton and has been in effect since 2000. The treaty requires that an individual accused of acts that violate both Zimbabwe and United States laws must be extradited for trial.
- Ron
