Zimbabwe will not charge U.S. dentist for killing Cecil the lion
Walter Palmer arrived at work at
07:00 local time (12:00 GMT), met by a throng of media and a few protesters.
Employees were seen escorting Mr
Palmer and patients into the surgery, as photographers swarmed the office.
In recent interviews, he has
claimed that the hunt was legal and that he was shocked to hear the animal was
famous.
Police were present as the
dentist parked his vehicle on a nearby street and walked into his office in Bloomington, Minnesota.
A staff member clutched his arm as the pair pushed past a group of journalists.
One woman could be heard
screaming "Extradite Palmer!"
"We need to thank Dr
Palmer," shouts one protester, "we need to thank him for waking us
up". For the half a dozen demonstrators here, Cecil the Lion has become a
poster child.
Some say they'd never heard of
trophy hunting before Cecil hit the headlines. One lady tells me she felt so
strongly she is protesting for the first time in her life.
She holds aloft a handwritten
board which reads "Roar for Cecil". They are polite. No shouting,
screaming or jostling. A mostly quiet but determined presence.
Dr Palmer has said a few
carefully chosen words to the local newspaper, perhaps in the hope he could go
back to work without a fuss. But for now, he is still a wanted man.
Mr Palmer did not speak to the media on
Tuesday, but did give an interview to the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Sunday.
"I need to get back to
treating my patients," Mr Palmer said. "My staff and my patients
support me, and they want me back. That's why I'm back."
The killing of Cecil in July
prompted a global uproar, which Mr Palmer has claimed led to "some safety
issues" for his family.
His clinic and his home in nearby
Eden Prairie became the site of protests, and his
holiday home in Florida
was vandalised.
The 55-year-old is
believed to have paid $50,000 (£32,000) to hunt a lion in Zimbabwe's largest
game reserve, but he says he was unaware it was so famous.
"If
I had known this lion had a name and was important to the country or a study
obviously I wouldn't have taken it," Mr Palmer said. "Nobody in our
hunting party knew before or after the name of this lion."
Cecil
was well known in the Hwange National Park and was being tracked with a GPS collar
as part of a research programme run by Oxford University.
The
Zimbabwe's
safari organisation has said the way in which Cecil was lured out of a national
park was unethical and possibly illegal.
Initially,
Zimbabwe
sought to charge and extradite Mr Palmer, but the government's interest in him
has waned in recent weeks.
The
Associated Press news agency reported that government officials fear it could
hamper a hunting industry that is lucrative and important for the country.
1.escorting 護送
2.clutched 抓住
3.demonstrator 示威者
4.trophy 戰利品
5. jostling 擠
6.fuss 小題大作
7.vandalised 破壞
8.safari 野生動物園
9.extradite 引渡
10.agency 機構
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/12/us-zimbabwe-wildlife-dentist-idUSKCN0S61G320151012
when-no
where-Zimbabwe
what -killing Cecil
who-Walter Palmer U.S. dentist
how-killing Cecil
why- the hunt was legal