Walter Palmer Minnesota dentist scores new hunting kill as he targets endangered rams, ‘Altai argali,’ in Mongolia four years after killing beloved Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe. Keeps recent hunting trip secret.
A Minnesota dentist hunter much maligned after killing the much loved Cecil the lion is reported to have returned to hunting, after shooting dead an endangered ram in Mongolia last year.
Walter James Palmer, 60, paid almost $100,000 for the rights to go on a hunting mission, which led to the big game hunter, shooting and killing an endangered Altai argali — the world’s biggest ram — in Mongolia last August. The enormous sheep are considered a national treasure and, with only 19,000 left in the world, are on the endangered species list.
Fellow hunters posted photos of the dead ram — but were careful to crop out Palmer’s face in an attempt to protect the dentist who had killed the ram with a crossbow — the same method he killed Cecil the Lion with during a hunt in Zimbabwe, in 2015.
‘For trophy hunters to travel to Mongolia to kill a beautiful and endangered ram is an absolute outrage,’ Dr Teresa Telecky, wildlife vice-president at Humane Society International, told the Daily Mirror.
‘The argali ram is a species in danger of extinction, so the idea that these animals can be killed for pleasure is abhorrent. The killing of Cecil the lion five years ago caused international shock. But clearly the killing for kicks continues. It’s time for the law to stop wildlife killers in their tracks by banning trophy hunting.’
Frontpage @DailyMirror @SkyNews @fleetstreetfox review. #DrillerKiller dentist Walter Palmer who brutally shot Cecil the Lion is back #Killing4Kicks endangered species in Mongolia! Psychopathy of trophy hunting #Bloodlust is why @BorisJohnson #GetTheBanDone #BanTrophyHunting pic.twitter.com/HNVFo5VBLb
— 🌹#LAWS4Animals 🐾🦁🦊🐘🦛🦒🐒🌿🌳 (@Labour4Animals) July 10, 2020
Money can buy access in Mongolia
Mongolia allows trophy hunting of the animals — for a steep price.
‘The right to kill an argali is controlled by an opaque permitting system that experts say is mostly based on money, connections and politics,’ according to ProPublica.
Palmer is said to have traveled to Mongolia last August with his friend and fellow hunting enthusiast, Canadian, Brent Sinclair.
‘At the time of Cecil’s death, Walter took a back seat,’ An insider told the Mirror. ‘But he’s been hunting ever since he was a boy. It’s a way of life to him. Walter has undertaken several hunts since Cecil’s death. … The trip to Mongolia was his idea. The ram was on his list of hunts he wanted to complete.’
Palmer’s trophy is not hanging on his wall as US customs haven’t granted him a permit for it to be exported yet from Mongolia. It is thought the avid hunter is intent on securing a permit to export his trophy kill back to his Minnesota residence according to the Mirror.
Palmer doesn’t have the trophy of his other big bow hunt, Cecil, whose head and body were taken by Zimbabwe police.
“I have booked more hunting trips with this guy over the past 20 years than I can count. Together, we have travelled to many far reaches of the world,” Sinclair said of the Walter Palmer on his Facebook page in posts now made private or deleted.
‘Thanks, Amigo (Palmer) for the adventure … look forward to our next one,’
Sinclair mentioned the two killing an elephant, but said the jaunt to Mongolia was ‘at the top of the pinnacle and hard to beat … Thanks, Amigo (Palmer) for the adventure … look forward to our next one,’ according to the Mirror.
Palmer was also with Sinclair and Zimbabwean hunter Theo Bronkhorst when they illegally lured Cecil out of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe before killing the famed lion.
‘Palmer, hidden in a tree, was armed with ‘lethally sharp arrows,” according to previous reports. After being hit with the first arrow, it is said to have taken Cecil 10 to 12 agonizing, painful hours to die.
To date, it remains unclear, where and if Walter Palmer plans to hunt next…
