>> 2nd American accused in lion kill:
Doctor named in earlier hunt
Zimbabwe accused a Pennsylvania doctor on Sunday of illegally killing a lion in April, adding to the outcry over a Minnesota dentist the African government wants to extradite for killing a well-known lion named Cecil in early July.
Harare, Zimbabwe — Now there are two: Zimbabwe accused a Pennsylvania doctor on Sunday of illegally killing a lion in April, adding to the outcry over a Minnesota dentist the African government wants to extradite for killing a wellknown lion named Cecil in early July.
Zimbabwe’s National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority accused Jan Casimir Seski of Murrysville, Pa., of shooting the lion with a bow and arrow in April near Hwange National Park, without approval, on land where it was not allowed.
Landowner Headman Sibanda was arrested and is assisting police, it said.
Seski is a gynecological oncologist who directs the Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.
He’s also an active big-game hunter, according to safari outfitters and bow-hunting sites where kill shots identify “Dr. Jan Seski” as the man standing next to slain animals including elephants, a hippo, an ostrich and antelopes such as an impala, a kudu and a nyala.
The Associated Press called and knocked on the door at Seski’s home, which is set back among some woods outside Pittsburgh. The AP also left a message with an answering service for his medical practice, with no immediate response.
One image on the Melorani Safaris Facebook page, since taken down, showed Seski posing with the body of a small antelope in 2012, with a caption saying it was killed two days after he shot it with an arrow. Other captions described how his arrows penetrated organs and split bones.
“This Zimbabwe elephant is the sixth African elephant shot by Dr. Jan Seski,” Alaska Bowhunting Supply claims in a caption dated September 2014, below a picture of the doctor posing above the dead beast’s trunk and tusks.
“The arrow was shot quartering into the elephant, penetrated a rib and one lung, lacerated the heart and liver, and was recovered in the gut. The elephant went a short distance and died. With results like this, no wonder Jan is a firm supporter of our Ultra-Magnum Arrow System.”
Alaska Bowhunting Supply didn’t immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment, and it wasn’t clear how the hunting supply company learned such details about the hunt.
Images of the doctor wearing camouflage and holding highpowered bows match those on Seski’s website, where he wears a suit or hospital scrubs. His address and other identifying information given by authorities in Zimbabwe matches those of U.S. medical authorities.
Seski provided his name and other identifying information for a government database when he came for the hunt, Zimbabwe National Parks spokeswoman Caroline Washaya Moyo said.
“When hunters come into the country they fill a document stating their personal details, the amount they have paid for the hunt, the number of animals to be hunted, the species to be hunted and the area and period where that hunt is supposed to take place,” she said. “The American conducted his hunt in an area where lion hunting is outlawed. The landowner who helped him with the hunt also did not have a quota for lion hunting.”
Zimbabwean authorities have said they will seek the extradition of Minnesota dentist Walter James Palmer, alleging he lacked authorization to kill “Cecil.” The lion was lured out of Hwange park, wounded with a bow and arrow and then tracked down and shot, conservationists said.
Palmer said he relied on professional guides to ensure his hunt was legal. Two Zimbabwean citizens were arrested and face charges.
Zimbabwe’s wildlife authority has suspended the hunting of lions, leopards and elephants in the Hwange area, and said Saturday that bow and arrow hunts can be approved by only by the head of the wildlife authority.