Cecil: decision to drop charges against lion killer 'disgraceful'

Fresh outrage as Zimbabwe says Walter Palmer's papers were in order and he won't be charged

Walter Palmer Cecil The Lion
(Image credit: EPA/Facebook)

Walter Palmer, the dentist who shot Cecil the lion, will face no charges, Zimbabwean officials have announced, sparking fresh outrage from animal lovers.

Palmer's hunting permits were all "in order", the government said, and he did not breach Zimbabwean law, despite the animal having being killed in an area where hunting is outlawed. President Robert Mugabe has laid the blame for Cecil's death on his "own people", insisting that they were responsible for failing to protect the animal from "foreign vandals".

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