Walt Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, and his bow and arrow are about to have an interesting week

[TheSportsPredictor]

The bootstrapper is accepting personal responsibility, right?

In a statement, Mr Palmer told Colorado News the authorities had yet to contact him and added he did not know the lion he had killed was a "local favourite".

"In early July, I was in Zimbabwe on a bow hunting trip for big game. I hired several professional guides and they secured all proper permits. To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted," he said.

"I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favourite, 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.

"I have not been contacted by authorities in Zimbabwe or in the US about this situation, but will assist them in any inquiries they may have. Again, I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion."​

 

[93Devil]

I think he is going to learn the lesson of "just because you are allowed to do something, it does not mean you should do something."

 

[93Devil]

Saw a bunch of headlines saying the guy thought it was legal. Sure, people pay $50,ooo to hunt all the time. That's how deer hunting works, right?

I know dentists make a lot of money, but, Jesus, do they make this much? This guy hunts a lot.

 

[heyabbott]

Dr Christian Szell

 

[JohnHammond]

My wife: "Seriously, why is everyone making such a huge deal about this? I don't really care. He didn't kill a person."

I tend to agree after seeing a Facebook friend change her cover photo to the lion.

With social media, people tend to have a hard time with keeping things in perspective. But then again, there's always enough outrage to go around.

Would I be wrong in assuming your Facebook friend recently had some sort of rainbow as their profile pic?

 

[BadgerBeer]

If the guy wants to hunt lions all he needed to do was head to Milwaukee. He would be a hero.

'Lion' on loose could as easily be pet as wild animal

 

[Gator]

OK, second reference to this, and I'm confused. Why? (no is the answer by the way).

Would I be wrong in assuming your Facebook friend recently had some sort of rainbow as their profile pic?

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

So this is what the $400 for a 45-minute procedure goes to.

 

[three_bags_full]

I read somewhere the animal was beheaded. Sure sounds fishy to me.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

Saw a bunch of headlines saying the guy thought it was legal. Sure, people pay $50,ooo to hunt all the time. That's how deer hunting works, right?

In the U.S., perhaps not, but it's fairly common in sub-Saharan Africa. These hunts are sold to raise money for conservation efforts, and they sometimes focus on aging alpha males who are no longer reproducing and prone to killing male cubs from other lines. Hard to tell if that's what was happening here, but the tactic of luring the lion off of protected land negates much if not all of the legitimacy in this hunt.

 

[Mr. Sunshine]

If you travel to a foreign country and pay $50,000 to shoot something, it should probably raise a red flag.

 

[Mr. Sunshine]

I read somewhere the animal was beheaded. Sure sounds fishy to me.

No, PETA is calling for the dentist to be beheaded.