UPDATED: Internet Rages at American Dentist Who Killed Cecil the Lion

Cecil the lion was a huge tourist draw and source of income for Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, where photography excursions resulted in images like a video shot by Brian Orford and posted on YouTube.

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Updated at 11:20 a.m.:

Beleaguered Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer tried to reassure his patients that a firestorm of criticism raining down him for killing Cecil, Zimbabwe’s most famous lion, has “nothing to do with the care I provide for you.”

In an open letter, Palmer said he had not been contacted by U.S. or Zimbabwe authorities about the killing of the revered lion, but said he will “assist them in any inquiries they may have,” KMSP-TV in the Twin Cities reported.

Palmer said his dentistry practice, River Bluff Dental, is temporarily closed, and patients with immediate needs are being referred to other dentists.

“The media interest in this matter – along with a substantial number of comments and calls from people angered by this situation and the practice of hunting in general – has disrupted our business and our ability to see our patients,” he said. “I apologize profoundly for this inconvenience.”

Repeating an earlier apology that his participation in the hunt, which he said he thought was legal, resulted in the lion’s death, Palmer said he hadn’t disclosed his love for hunting to his patients “because it can be a divisive and emotionally charged topic.”

Patch’s earlier report:

The entire Internet, it seems, has banded together to excoriate the Minnesota dentist named by The Telegraph as the man who killed Cecil, Zimbabwe’s best-known and most-studied lion, in a $55,000 pay-to-hunt safari in early July.

Dr. Walter Palmer, of Eden Prairie, has deactivated his website and Facebook page, isn’t answering the phone at his Bloomington dentistry practice, and appears to have vanished, at least on social media and the Internet, to escape a vitriolic public shaming.

Palmer’s practice was closed Tuesday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. A monument to Cecil – or, seen another way, a stinging jab at the dentist – took shape at his office door as people left stuffed-toy lions, leopards and other animals that might be found in real-life form in Africa.

The Telegraph said Palmer was part of a hunting party that persuaded the majestic 13-year-old lion a mile from the sanctuary of Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, using a recently slaughtered animal as bait.

Related:

• Dentist Wanted in Death of Majestic Lion Cecil on Pay-to-Kill Hunt

Shot with a compound bow, the injured Cecil roamed the savannas for up to 40 hours as he was stalked by the hunters, who then finished him off with a gun. They cut off his head for a trophy, and skinned his muscular frame.

In a statement, Palmer said he regretted killing the lion:

“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. I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion.”

The apology may not have helped Palmer’s cause with a cyber mob eager to skewer him.

They fell quickly in love with Cecil, 13, after hearing how he wandered alone after being kicked out of the pride in a beat-down by younger, stronger males. Their hearts ached more with the somber awareness that the tragedy isn’t over, and Jericho, another male, will almost certainly kill Cecil’s young cubs to establish his place in the hierarchy and insert his bloodline into the pride. People felt like they knew Cecil a bit.

Studied since 1999 by Oxford University researchers, Cecil was habituated and known among park visitors as a friendly, social lion. He earned his keep, too, as tourists from around the world paid for the privilege of taking still shots and video of him swaggering with authority across the savannas of his home range.

As conservationists called for justice in Zimbabwe’s courts, debated the ethics of trophy hunting and called for its elimination altogether, Cecil’s defenders set the Internet on fire with often incendiary malevolence.

Before website administrators intervened, a Yelp page exploded in an acerbic, approximately 2,000-comment stream of consciousness directed at Palmer. Yelp apparently removed the comments because they offered reviews of Palmer’s character, not his dentistry practice, but eager-to-vent critics found an alternate link that was still active Tuesday night.

With estimates that fewer than 20,000 lions remain in the wild in Africa, big-game hunters like Palmer are contributing to their decline “more rapidly than Mother Nature anticipated,” one woman wrote, dripping acrimony:

“I disagree with the Yelpers on here who are telling Dr. Palmer to kill himself. This man should live with the wrath of a humane society and the guilt he must certainly now feel after it has come out that he is a heartless lion hunter. … Dr. Palmer, be grateful I live in New York and not Minnesota. You are a shameful human being and I hope you live with your actions for the rest of your life.”

On Twitter, #RIPCecil, #CecilTheLion and #WalterPalmer are trending. Tweets ranged from philosophical to vengeful.

“Hunting is not a sport,” tweeted Erica DeJulia, @BlushingStarlet. “In sports both sides know they’re in the game.”

A more base reaction came from @Laurenink, who tweeted: “Flying to Minnesota to punch a dentist. Don’t wait up for me.”

A petition directed at Zimbabwe President Robert Gabriel Mugabe and demanding justice for Cecil collected more than 164,500 signatures in a matter of hours.

Another three petitions on the White House website asked President Obama to call for Palmer’s arrest and extradition to Zimbabwe to face charges.

That could happen.

Reporting that police in Zimbabwe want to interview Palmer, CNN said he may face poaching charges along with other members of the hunting party, a professional hunter and land owner who are expected to be formally charged Wednesday. If convicted, the two men could face up to 15 years in prison.

Emmanuel Fundira, president of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, told The Guardian Palmer should face criminal prosecution. American members of the group are encouraged to conduct themselves in a manner that is beyond reproach, he said, but that didn’t happen in this case.

“The rules are clear in Zimbabwe that no protected lions should be hunted,” Fundira said. “... The culprits should be brought to book and punished at the highest level. This is really reckless.”