Zimbabwe seeks U.S. man in lion killing

An American man is being sought in connection with a case that has drawn international attention -- the killing of Cecil the lion -- Zimbabwean officials said Tuesday. The man suspected in Cecil's death is Walter James Palmer of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, according to Johnny Rodrigues, head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force. Cecil, who was 13, was a prized lion in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, where visitors reportedly sighted him frequently. A video of the animal, regal, indifferent and sleepy-eyed, has been widely disseminated. He was a participant in a study that Oxford University in Britain was conducting, and he had been outfitted with a GPS collar. A police official in Zimbabwe said that two Zimbabweans had been arrested in the case and that police were looking for Palmer. An alleged $50,000 payment The Zimbabweans, Honest Trymore Ndlovu and Theo Bronchorst, were due in court Wednesday, according to a statement from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe. Bronchorst is a professional hunter, the statement said. Rodrigues asserted that Palmer was an American and gave his passport number and street address, but police were more vague. Charity Charamba, a Zimbabwe police spokeswoman, told CNN that police were seeking Palmer, "who might be an American or a Spaniard." The allegation is that the lion was killed illegally, Charamba said. Calls to an office number for Walter J. Palmer in Bloomington, Minnesota, about a six-minute drive from the home address given by Rodrigues, went unanswered Tuesday. The messaging mailbox was full.