Court Drops Charges Against Cecil’s Hunters

This month, a Zimbabwe court dropped charges brought against professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst for his connection to the death of Cecil the Lion. Bronkhorst—who did not obtain proper hunting permits—accepted an alleged $50,000 to lead Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer to Cecil for the purpose of killing the beloved lion with a bow and arrow in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park last year. “There was no full trial, but the [High Court] judge has decided that the charges as they were brought at that time were not properly constituted,” Bronkhorst’s attorney Perpetua Dube said. The public outrage over Cecil’s death has prompted several actions against trophy hunting, such as Delta Airline’s refusal to ship the remains of a black rhino killed by a Texas hunter in June. Animal-rights organizations parlayed the attention Cecil’s death received into a conversation about other animals who continue to be exploited for food, science, and entertainment.