HORNS FOR A DEVIL
Lion killer slaughters a rare ram
The “driller killer” Minnesota dentist who fatally shot beloved Cecil the lion has been back on the hunt and bagged an endangered ram in Mongolia last year. Walter Palmer, 60, paid a fee estimated to be as high as $100,000 for the pleasure of killing an endangered altai argali — the world’s biggest ram — in Mongolia in August. The enormous sheep are considered a national treasure and, with only 19,000 left in the world, are on the endangered species list. Donald Trump Jr. caused international outrage last year for bagging a similar ram on a hunt that same month. It is not known if the hunting parties knew each other or were hunting together in remote western Mongolia. 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 killed the ram with a crossbow — the same method he used to kill Cecil the lion during a 2015 hunt in Zimbabwe. “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,” she said.
“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.”
Mongolia allows trophy hunting of the rams — for a steep price.
The country employs 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 in August with a 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 hasn’t granted him a permit for it to be exported yet from Mongolia.
He doesn’t have the trophy of his other big bow hunt, either. Cecil’s body was seized by Zimbabwe police.