Yahoo News Lion-Killing Dentist Faces 'Terroristic Threats'
Police have opened an investigation into reported death threats against an American dentist who killed a prized lion in Zimbabwe.
Walter Palmer , an avid big game hunter from Minnesota, has become the target of widespread criticism on social media and elsewhere since it emerged he killed the hugely popular cat known as Cecil the Lion.
Citing "terroristic threats", police in suburban Minneapolis stepped up patrols around Mr Palmer's dental office, which has been temporarily closed.
Deputy Chief Mike Hartley said in an email to Reuters that his department received information about the threats on Tuesday, and that police would investigate the matter "like any other similar offence".
On Wednesday, a small group of demonstrators staged a protest outside Mr Palmer's office in Bloomington.
A few held signs including one that said: "Let the hunter be hunted!"
Others have left stuffed animals outside the dental office, while painter Mark Balma began work on a canvas portrait of Cecil in the car park.
Mr Palmer, 55, reportedly paid park guides $50,000 (£32,000) to kill the lion during a recent hunting trip to Zimbabwe.
Local authorities said the men used a dead animal to lure Cecil from a protected area at the Hwange National Park so he could be hunted.
The big cat was wounded with a crossbow, tracked for 40 hours and then shot with a rifle, according to Johnny Rodrigues, head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.
The 13-year-old lion was then decapitated and skinned.
Mr Palmer told his local newspaper, The Star Tribune, that he "deeply regrets" killing the animal, and that was unaware it was a "known, local favourite".
He added that he believed the hunt was legal.
"I hired several professional guides, and they secured all proper permits," he said.
"To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted."
Meanwhile, the two Zimbabwean men allegedly hired by Mr Palmer appeared in court on charges of poaching .
Theo Bronkhorst, a professional hunter with Bushman Safaris, attended the court in Hwange - about 375 miles west of the capital Harare - along with owner of the land that borders the park, Honest Trymore Ndlovu.
The Zimbabwean Parks & Wildlife Authority said: "Both the professional hunter and land owner had no permit or quota to justify the offtake of the lion and therefore are liable for the illegal hunt."
The men face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Mr Palmer, who has left Zimbabwe, is also facing poaching charges, according to police.
US Congresswoman Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat, has asked prosecutors and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to investigate whether any US laws were violated in the lion's killing.
Mr Palmer said in a statement he had not been contacted by authorities in Zimbabwe or the United States and would assist in any inquiries.
A spokesman for the US Attorney's Office in Minnesota has declined to comment.
