Internet Backlash Forces Killer Of Famous Lion To Close His Dental Practice

Cecil the 13-year-old lion was one of the stars of Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park. He was charismatic and had an unusual black mane which mystified visitors.

Earlier this month, locals found the protected lion shot, beheaded and skinned. Authorities now believe that a local man was paid US$55,000 by a western hunter to lure Cecil out of the protected park so that the hunter could 'legally' murder the lion on a local landowner's property.

Only wounding Cecil, it is believed that the hunter then spent two days tracking Cecil before killing him and taking a 'trophy.'

The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force also claim that the hunting party unsuccessfully tried to remove and hide Cecil's tracking collar.

After investigation, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and The Telegraph are both naming Cecil's killer as Walter Palmer, a dentist and known big game hunter from Minnesota.

Unsurprisingly, the dental surgery has not fared well on social media. On Yelp, users have plummeted their rating down to 1 star.

More than 120,000 people have signed a petition to President Mugabe, asking Zimbabwe to stop issuing hunting permits.

In fact, there's been so much backlash on social media that the dental practice seems to have shut down for the week.

Local people have even turned the front door into a memorial for Cecil, leaving flowers and stuffed animals.

Cecil leaves behind a pride of lions, including 24 cubs, who preservationists say, will now likely be killed by other lions.

Zimbabwe National Parks have said "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."

Walter Palmer told reporters; "I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love & practice responsibly & legally resulted in the taking of this lion. To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted."

The Associated Press has been told that Zimbabwean police are already searching for Palmer in connection to the killing.