WATCH ABOVE: A group of outraged protesters gathered outside dentist Walter Palmer’s office in Minnesota, calling for his extradition to Zimbabwe. Palmer is accused of killing Cecil, a beloved lion while in Zimbabwe. Jamie Yuccas reports.
The American dentist accused of illegally killing Cecil the Lion on a recent hunting trip in Zimbabwe has apologized, saying he didn’t know the lion was a “local favourite.”
But that hasn’t stopped the calls for his arrest, trial, and in some cases, death for the alleged poaching of the animal.
Zimbabwean officials announced Tuesday that Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer lured the animal out of a protected area and killed it during his July trip.
He issued a statement following the allegations saying “I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favourite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt,” he said, adding his guides had proper permits, and to his knowledge, everything was handled legally.
READ MORE: Celebrities react to U.S. dentist’s killing of Cecil the lion
Two Zimbabwean men were arrested Wednesday to face poaching charges. The two men, one a professional hunter and the other a farm owner, are believed to have helped Palmer kill the lion. Police said the farm owner did not have proper permits and the hunter’s licence has been revoked.
“I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion,” he said.
WATCH: Locals erect shrine to Cecil the Lion outside office of dentist who shot him
But that hasn’t stopped some, like PETA, from calling for him to be “hanged.”
Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel delivered a nearly five-minute monologue about the lion during his show Tuesday night, describing Palmer as “the most hated man in America who never advertised Jell-O pudding on television.”
And in a fit of social media protest, thousands of people unleashed negative reviews of Palmer’s Minnesota dentistry practice on Yelp, taking the opportunity to threaten him as well as make jokes at his expense.
More than 6,100 reviews had been written about Palmer’s practice on Yelp; only five were written prior to the allegations he paid $55,000 to kill the lion.
One reviewer, Brian T, wrote “Unlike the animals you kill for fun, you don’t deserve to walk among us.”
Joshua N. wrote “Brought my lion here for dentistry and was horrified by the result. All kidding aside, I hope you die painfully.”
Andy C. from Toronto wrote “I was lured to this business because of the promise of free meat. The dentist tried cleaning my teeth from an arrow in his crossbow which I found odd. The 1 star is for the $50,000 bill I got afterwards.”
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Maggie T. wrote “Hope you’re (sic) actions shut you down! How on earth could you kill such a beautiful creature. Rot in a fiery pit.”
WATCH: Zimbabwe has an excellent history of conservation, despite the recent killing of Cecil the lion, the country’s environment secretary said on Wednesday
Yelp is, according to many of the reviews, deleting some of the negative comments. The company said in a statement to Global News that “Media-fueled reviews typically violate our Content Guidelines.”
“One of these deals with relevance. For example, reviews aren’t the place for rants about a business’s employment practices, political ideologies, extraordinary circumstances, or other matters that don’t address the core of the consumer experience. Yelp reviews are required to describe a firsthand consumer experience, not what someone read in the news. Our user support team ultimately removes reviews that violate these guidelines.”
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