Over the summer, the Internet flipped out over what appeared to be the unlawful killing of the beloved beast known as Cecil the Lion.
Cecil was a major attraction at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, and had long been part of an Oxford conservation study.
In June, he was lured out of the sanctuary, shot with a bow and arrow and tracked form more than 40 hours before eventually being shot, skinned and decapitated.
When park officials found his body, they noted that his tracking collar had been removed, thus indicating that whoever killed him was well aware that this was no ordinary lion.
In July, a Minnesota dentist named Walter Palmer admitted to killing Cecil and incurred the wrath of animal lovers the world over.
Palmer was forced into hiding and temporarily closed his dental practice. There was a time when it looked as though he might be extradited and wind up serving jail time in Zimbabwe.
To the shock of millions, however, it now seems that Palmer will not face any sort of criminal charges as a result of killing Cecil.
TMZ is reporting that Palmer has been cleared of any wrongdoing by Zimbabwe’s environmental minister.
An investigation revealed that Palmer had filed the proper papers and had “legal authority to conduct the hunt.”
A happy day for Palmer and his family, no doubt, but a sad one for those who hold Cecil’s memory close to their hearts.