海角大神

Zimbabwean police said Tuesday they are searching for an American who allegedly shot a well-known, protected聽lion聽with a crossbow in a killing that has outraged conservationists and others.

The American allegedly paid $50,000 to kill the聽lion聽named聽Cecil, Zimbabwean conservationists said. Authorities on Tuesday said two Zimbabwean men will appear in court for allegedly helping with the hunt. The American faces poaching charges, according to police spokeswoman Charity Charamba.

Walter James Palmer was identified on Tuesday by both the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force and the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe as the American hunter, a name that police then confirmed.

"We arrested two people and now we are looking for Palmer in connection with the same case," said Charamba.

Emmanuel Fundira, the president of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, said at a news conference that Palmer is from Minnesota and his current whereabouts were unknown.

Phone calls to two listed home phone numbers for Palmer rang busy on Tuesday. Phone calls to his dental office in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington also went unanswered, and a message couldn't be left because the office mailbox was full.

The front door to the office building was locked when a reporter approached Tuesday morning. A woman who came to the door said Palmer was not in the office and was not seeing patients on Tuesday.

The two arrested Zimbabwean men 鈥� a professional hunter and a farm owner 鈥� face poaching charges, the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority and the Safari Operators Association said in a joint statement. Killing the聽lion聽was illegal because the farm owner did not have a hunting permit, the joint statement said. Thelion聽was skinned and beheaded. The hunters tried to destroy the聽lion's聽collar, fitted with a tracking device, but failed, the statement said.

If convicted, the men face up to 15 years in prison.

The聽lion聽is believed to have been killed on July 1 in western Zimbabwe's wildlife-rich Hwange region, its carcass discovered days later by trackers, the statement said.

The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said in a statement that an American paid the $50,000 for the hunt. During a nighttime hunt, the men tied a dead animal to their car to lure the聽lion聽out of a national park, said Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force. The American is believed to have shot it with a crossbow, injuring the animal. The wounded聽lion聽was found 40 hours later, and shot dead with a gun, Rodrigues said in the statement.

"The saddest part of all is that now that聽Cecil聽is dead, the next聽lion聽in the hierarchy, Jericho will most likely kill allCecil's聽cubs," said Rodrigues.

The Zimbabwean hunter accused in the case claimed that聽Cecil聽was not specifically targeted, and the group only learning after the fact that they had killed a well-known聽lion, according to the Safari Operators Association.

Cecil, recognizable by his black mane, was being studied by an Oxford University research program, the conservation group said.

Tourists regularly spotted his characteristic mane in the park over the last 13 years, said聽Lion聽Aid, also a conservation group.

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Associated Press reporters Amy Forliti in Bloomington, Minnesota, and Brian Bakst in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed to this report.