US Dentist 'Deeply Regrets' Killing Lion

The US hunter who killed a prized lion in Zimbabwe has said he "deeply regrets" his actions and did not realise the animal was so revered.

American dentist Walter Palmer, from Minnesota, allegedly paid park guides $50,000 (£32,000) to kill the lion, who was a hugely popular attraction at the Hwange National Park.
The animal, named Cecil, was lured from a national park and shot with a crossbow, before being 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, 55, told his local newspaper, The Star Tribune, he believed his hunting trip was completely legal.
"I hired several professional guides, and they secured all proper permits," he said in a statement reported by the paper.

"To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted.
“I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt.
"I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt.
"Again, I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion."
The Star Tribune reported that Mr Palmer's dental surgery was closed on Tuesday, with a note directing reporters to a public relations firm.
The Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association (ZPHGA) accepted in a Facebook post that one of its members, Theo Bronkhorst, was also involved in the hunt.
Bronkhorst, a professional hunter with Bushman Safaris, is charged with illegally killing the animal along with the owner of the land that borders the park, Honest Trymore Ndlovu.
Both men are due to appear in court on Wednesday and if convicted face up to 15 years in prison.
The ZPHGA has confirmed that Bronkhorst's membership has since been suspended indefinitely: "ZPHGA in the follow up of the investigation concludes that in regarding the responsibility of his membership, the professional hunter is in violation of the ethics of ZPHGA.
"ZPHGA re-iterates it will not tolerate any illegal hunting or any unethical practices by any of its members and their staff".
Animals are often tempted away from the protection of their parks so that they can be killed 'legally', although the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, who are responsible for issuing hunting permits and quotas, insist Cecil was killed illegally.
They said: "The killing of the lion was illegal since the land owner was not allocated a lion on his hunting quota for 2015. Therefore, all persons implicated in this case are due to appear in court facing poaching charges."
The lion had a GPS collar for researchers at Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit to track its movements.
Attempts to destroy the collar were unsuccessful, which was how the animal was found.
The research unit's founding director, David Macdonald, said: "It's not many months ago that I watched Cecil with my hand on my heart as he strayed toward a hunting concession.
"On that occasion he turned back into the protection of the park, but this time he made a fatal mistake and I feel deeply sad, personally."
Mr Rodrigues added that now that Cecil is dead, the next lion in the hierarchy, Jericho, will most likely kill all Cecil's cubs so that he can insert his own bloodline into the females, which is standard procedure for lions.