AKIPRESS.COM -
Zimbabwe has charged a second man in connection to the killing of Cecil the lion, but his name is not Walter Palmer.
Prosecutors on Tuesday accused Zimbabwean farmer Honest Ndlovu of allowing the American dentist to hunt Cecil on his land without the required permission, the Associated Press reported.
He faces one year in prison or a $400 fine, his attorney, Tonderai Mukuku, told the AP.
Ndlovu is the second Zimbabwean charged in the case after professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst was arraigned on July 29.
Officials believe Bronkhorst lured the aging lion out of Hwange National Park and onto Ndlovu’s Antoinette Farm, which is separated from the protected park by only a railway track. Once Cecil was on the farmland, Palmer allegedly shot the animal with a bow and arrow before later finishing him off with by gunshot. The lion was then beheaded and skinned.
Africa’s lion population has shrunk by 82% over the last century, according to the AP. As a result, countries like Zimbabwe have instituted a quota system capping the number of lions that can be killed per year.
He was granted $200 bail on Tuesday and is set to reappear in court on Sept. 18, according to the AP. It is unclear if Ndlovu has entered a plea.
