Scot-Free: Professional Hunter Who Helped Kill Cecil the Lion Acquitted by Zimbabwe Court

Zimbabwe court has cleared Theo Bronkhorst, the professional hunter who assisted American hunter Walter Palmer and killer of the famous Cecil the Lion, of all criminal charges. Originally charged with failing to stop an illegal hunt, the court ruled that the charges against Bronkhorst "were too vague to enable to him to mount a proper defence."

In an interview with the BBC, Bronkhorst’s legal counsel, Pepertua Dube, said the offense did not have the force of the law and was neither criminal in nature. As a professional hunter, more locally known as “PH,” Bronkhorst’s role was only to arrange trips, secure necessary permits and licenses, attending to the needs of the client, and ensuring that the hunt abides by all the laws required.

On July 1, 2015, American dentist Walter Palmer paid a whopping $54,000 to bow-hunt Cecil the Lion, a major tourist attraction at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park. Palmer’s team, including Bronkhorst, shot Cecil with a bow in a nearby farm outside the park, where he occasionally wandered to explore, and then tracked him again for an additional 11 hours before finally putting an end to the animal’s life.