Cecil shooting: Farm owner in court

Fairness Moyana in Hwange
The trial of Trymore Honest Ndlovu, the owner of the farm on which the iconic lion, Cecil, was lured and shot dead, finally kicked off at Hwange magistrates’ courts on Tuesday.

There had been delays in bringing Ndlovu to court because prosecution wanted to first find a suitable charge.

Ndlovu, 62, a professional hunter, is being charged for allowing American dentist-cum-hunter, Walter Palmer, to conduct an illegal hunt of a lion not on his quota at his Antonnette and Antonnette Extension Farm in the Gwayi Conservancy area on April 2.

He was not asked to plead when he appeared before Hwange Provincial magistrate, Portia Mhlanga.

Ndlovu, who was represented by his lawyer Tonderai Mukuku of Marondodze, Ndou, Mukuku and Partners, was remanded out of custody on $200 bail to 18 September for trial.

He was ordered to surrender his passport to the clerk of court, report to Hwange Police Station once a week, continue residing at his given address and not to interfere with witnesses as part of his bail conditions.

Prosecuting, Fadzai Mharadze said on June, 29, Ndlovu was approached by Theodore Bronckhorst, a Zimbabwean professional hunter, seeking permission for Palmer to hunt on his farm.

Bronckhorst, who also appeared before the same courts recently, is being charged with failing to prevent an illegal hunt that resulted in the killing of Cecil the Lion. He is out of custody on $1,000 bail.

Mharadze said after getting permission from Ndlovu, Palmer allegedly lured the collared lion with a carcass of another animal out of its sanctuary and used a bow and arrow to shoot the big cat.

The government has since banned the use of bow and arrow in hunting game following the killing of Cecil.

Bronckhorst is alleged to have finished off Cecil 40 hours later with a rifle before the protected big cat was skinned and taken away as a trophy. Palmer, who paid about 50,000 is on record as saying he was not aware that Cecil was protected.

The lion was being used for research purpose by Oxford University.