The furor surrounding a Twin Cities big-game hunter continued to mount Wednesday, as protesters swarmed his Bloomington dental office and a leading Zimbabwe conservationist said Walter J. Palmer should return to Africa to explain his killing of a beloved research lion. 
 
 “People should be accountable for whatever crimes, whatever the case is,” Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, said in an interview with the Star Tribune. Rodrigues said it is “imperative that Palmer face justice.” 
 
 Separately, U.S. wildlife regulators said they will assist Zimbabwe authorities in their investigation of the shooting of the lion, known widely and affectionately as Cecil. Palmer has not been charged in Zimbabwe, although his guide and outfitter have. 
 
 Also Wednesday, Safari Club International, a global organization of big-game hunters, said it was suspending Palmer’s membership and that of his Zimbabwe-based guide. 
 
 “Safari Club International supports a full and thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death of Cecil the lion,” the group said in a prepared statement. “SCI supports only legal hunting practices … and believes that those who intentionally take wildlife illegally should be prosecuted and punished to the maximum extent allowed by law.” 
 
 In Zimbabwe, the guide hired by Palmer appeared in court on Wednesday on charges of failing to prevent an illegal hunt and was released on $1,000 bail. 
 
 Video (01:29): People voice their outrage at lion hunter's office in Bloomington Video (01:29): People voice their outrage at lion hunter's office in Bloomington 
 
 Reached Wednesday morning, Palmer said he had no additional comment since a statement released Tuesday. But in a note to his dental patients, he said his practice is closed for now because of disruptions by the “substantial number of calls and comments from people who are angered by this situation and by the practice of hunting in general.” 
 
 The note added: “I don’t often talk about hunting with my patients because it can be a divisive and emotionally charged topic. I understand and respect that not everyone shares the same views on hunting.” 
 
 Palmer, 55, a prominent bow hunter and safari enthusiast, acknowledged Tuesday that he shot Cecil with a bow and arrow on July 1. Palmer said in a statement that he thought at the time that the kill was legal, but that he had no idea he was shooting a prized research animal and deeply regrets it. 
 
 The lion lived in Hwange National Park, where it had protected status and was collared as part of a long-term study. He became a favorite among tourists and a point of pride for the southern African nation. 
 
 Lawyers who specialize in wildlife law said Wednesday they doubt that Palmer faces legal trouble under U.S. law (see accompanying article), but federal officials confirmed that they are investigating. 
 
 Laury Marshall Parramore, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said her agency is deeply concerned about the incident. “We are currently gathering facts about the issue and will assist Zimbabwe officials in whatever manner requested. It is up to all of us — not just the people of Africa — to ensure that healthy, wild populations of animals continue to roam the savanna for generations to come.” 
 
 The U.S. Justice Department said in a statement that it’s also “aware of the situation and … looking into the facts.” Late Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., urged the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Justice Department to investigate whether the killing violated any U.S. laws or regulations. 
 
 ‘Don’t hunt me’ 
 
 Outside Palmer’s office in Bloomington on Wednesday, about a dozen police officers sealed off traffic from a block of Rhode Island Avenue, hours ahead of a demonstration scheduled for 1 p.m. About a half-dozen demonstrators were on hand in the early afternoon, while others drove by to observe. 
 
 A Bloomington mother brought her two young children to the protest. Her 3-year-old wore a lion’s costume and a sign that read: “Protect Me, Don’t Hunt Me.” 
 
 A verbal altercation broke out moments after someone posted a sign on the door of Palmer’s office that read “Rot in hell” in big black letters. 
 
 Wanda Palmer, who said she’s no relation to the dentist, said the sign could incite violence. “Love has to win,” she said. “If you committed a horrible sin, I would have mercy on you. I wouldn’t send you to hell.” 
 
 About the same time, two of Palmer’s dental patients appeared, saying they dropped by out of curiosity. 
 
 Rick Torney of Bloomington said that he has been a patient for about 20 years and that he knew Palmer was a big-game hunter but never thought much of it. “I think he trusted these [guides],” Torney said. “He seemed to believe they had all the necessary permits. 
 
 “I would go back to him,” Torney added. “He’s one heck of a dentist. But my wife — she thinks we should find a new dentist.” 
 
 Jim Ruchie of Eden Prairie took a different view. “He’s a good guy, a family guy. I just don’t agree with what he did. I will never come back here.” 
 
 Gallery: Gallery: Cecil the lion remembered at Walter Palmer's dental office Gallery: Gallery: Cecil the lion remembered at Walter Palmer's dental office 
 
 A second demonstration, at 4 p.m., drew a larger crowd of about 250 protesters. 
 
 “Trophy hunters should go extinct,” said Kevin Wollersheim of Hopkins. “That’s why I came.” 
 
 Paul Runze, a retired Hastings resident, said that he visits Africa two to three times a year and that he has taken video and photos of Cecil. “I can’t understand what drives a man to take a life, to take a trophy,” Runze said. “If you’re shooting pheasants to eat, that’s OK. Nobody eats rhinos.” 
 
 Asked what it was like the first time he saw Cecil: 
 
 “It was a magical moment when Cecil made eye contact.” 
 
 Guide surrenders passport 
 
 In Zimbabwe, the professional guide employed by Palmer made his first court appearance in Hwange, about 435 miles west of the capital, Harare. 
 
 Theo Bronkhorst, 52, a guide with Bushman Safaris, appeared before magistrate Lindiwe Maphosa, charged with failing to prevent the illegal hunting of the lion. Conservationists initially thought Bronkhorst would face a tougher poaching charge, which can draw a fine of $20,000 or 10 years’ imprisonment. 
 
 Kristen Hall led the group of protesters from Animal Rights Coalition and Minnesota Animal Liberation in chants in front of Dr. Walter Palmer's dental practice in Bloomington on Wednesday. 
 
 Bronkhorst was remanded on $1,000 bail. Maphosa did not ask Bronkhorst to enter a plea, but ordered him to surrender his passport and report three times a week to police. 
 
 Bronkhorst is due back in court next week. 
 
 The prosecutor, Namatirai Ngwasha, told the court that Bronkhorst, whose hunting license was revoked on Tuesday, failed to prevent Palmer from shooting Cecil to death. The lion was not listed for hunting on Bushman Safaris’ hunting quota, Ngwasha said. 
 
 Prosecutors noted that Cecil had been collared for a research project on lions in the wild, and said the animal’s head and pelt, left near the scene of the killing, have been confiscated and would be presented to court as evidence. 
 
 Palmer has not been charged in the proceedings. 
 
 Zimbabwe wildlife officials say the lion was killed after a nighttime pursuit during which the hunters tied a dead animal to their car as bait to lure it out of the national park. Palmer shot the lion with a bow and arrow, injuring it. The hunting party found the wounded lion 40 hours later and shot it dead with a gun, Rodrigues said. 
 
 The prosecutor, Ngwasha, said Wednesday that researchers became concerned on July 1, when the GPS collar showed Cecil uncharacteristically stationary. A report was made to police, and Cecil’s carcass was discovered days later by trackers. 
 
 In addition, the owner of the game farm where Palmer was hunting was charged on Wednesday with allowing an illegal hunt and is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday. 
 
 Walter J. Palmer 
 
 A prolific hunter 
 
 Palmer, who has been hunting big game for many years, had been listed in a record book compiled by Safari Club International, which claims 55,000 members worldwide. The club’s record book lists 43 kills by Palmer, all by bow and arrow. His list includes moose, deer, buffalo, a polar bear and a mountain lion. 
 
 Though he is known in hunting circles as a skilled bowman, Palmer has also run afoul of the law at least twice over the years, with a guilty plea and fine in 2008 for misleading federal authorities about a bear he killed illegally in Wisconsin and for fishing without a license in Minnesota’s Otter Tail County. ||||| 1 of 12 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × The reaction to Cecil the lion’s killing by an American tourist View Photos Minnesota dentist Walter James Palmer is accused of killing Zimbabwe’s Cecil the lion. Caption Minnesota dentist Walter James Palmer is accused of killing Zimbabwe’s Cecil the lion. A photo of Walter James Palmer, the American dentist accused of killing Cecil the lion. Rex Features via AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 The Internet is in an uproar this week over the recent killing of a well-known lion in Zimbabwe. Walter J. Palmer, a Minnesota dentist, allegedly baited Cecile the lion out of a national park by dragging a dead animal behind a car at night. Palmer shot it with a crossbow. The wounded lion escaped and wasn't found by Palmer and his fellow hunters until 40 hours later, when they killed it with a rifle. 
 
 This would all be perfectly legal had the lion not been a resident of Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, a protected area. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimates that trophy-hunting tourists legally kill some 600 lions each year. Jane Smart, the global director of IUCN's Biodiversity Conservation Group, said in an interview that the 600 figure is several years old and the actual number is probably a little bit higher than that. Given that there are only about 30,000 lions left in Africa, this represents an annual loss of roughly 2 percent of the total lion population to legal hunting, and a considerably larger share of the population of healthy adult male lions, which hunters typically prize. 
 
 American tourists -- wealthy ones, given the high costs involved -- account for the majority of lions killed for sport in Africa. A 2011 report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare found that between 1999 and 2008, Americans brought home lion "trophies" -- heads, pelts and whatnot -- representing 64 percent of all African lions killed for sport during that period. And that number is rising: "Of these trophies, the number imported into the U.S. in 2008 was larger than any other year in the decade studied and more than twice the number in 1999," the report found. 
 
 
 
 Lion icon by Robert Bjurshagen, The Noun Project. 
 
 The dwindling lion population cannot sustain hunting losses like this indefinitely, the IUCN found in its report. Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to list African lions as "endangered," which would have banned the importation of recreational lion trophies to the United States. Instead they listed lions as "threatened," which allows the domestic trade in lion trophies to continue. 
 
 Safari Club International, the hunting group Palmer belongs to, hailed the ruling as a victory for hunters. The club maintains an online record book where hunters can track their kills of lions and other big game animals and compare their rankings with other hunters. "You can submit your score and method of kill for any species, and it will interactively show you where you would rank in the book if your entry was submitted today," the Web site says. An image of an example ranking page shows scores and rankings for kills of African lions. 
 
 Safari Club International 
 
 Safari International says there are records of over 2,000 lions killed in its online record book. A November 2014 blog post highlights the top 10 African lions killed, with photos of hunters posed next to their prizes. "The African lion is one of the most challenging and dangerous hunts," the copy reads. "Virtually anyone who imagines an African Safari envisions the big maned lion charging the implacable hunter shouldering his European double rifle." 
 
 Safari Club International 
 
 In reality, lion hunting doesn't appear to require much in the way of skill. As the photos above show, many hunter-tourists are guided by teams of locals and professionals. Adult lions are not particularly afraid of humans, making it relatively easy to get close to one. They spend the majority of their day sleeping. 
 
 Hunting groups like Safari Club International maintain that hunting lions helps conserve them. They promote the positive effects of hunting in African communities. They argue that "hunting plays a role in raising the value of the African lion and discourages poaching." 
 
 In a phone interview, IUCN's Smart said that well-regulated trophy hunting can be a net benefit for lion populations. "What is clear is that overall the trophy hunting must be carefully regulated, otherwise it casts the whole trophy hunting industry into ill-repute," she said. "There is a payback for communities if we can do it in a regulated way. However unpleasant people find this, this can be a good conservation technique." She stressed that habitat destruction and illegal poaching were even bigger threats to the lion population. 
 
 In a statement to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Palmer expressed regret. "I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt... 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. 
 
 This story has been updated with comments from Jane Smart of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
– As the outrage against dentist and lion-killer Walter Palmer simmers, the Washington Post points out that he's far from the only American hunter to kill a lion in Africa. In fact, hundreds do so every year in legal hunts. Palmer's problem is that his guides lured a lion out of a protected area. Conversation groups estimate that at least 600 lions are killed annually by hunters looking for a trophy kill. And most of those hunters—64% by the most recent estimate—are from the US. One contributing factor, explains the Post, is that the US considers lions "threatened," a lesser label than "endangered," which would prevent hunters from bringing back their "lion trophies." Palmer belongs to the hunting group Safari Club International, which extols the thrill of a lion hunt: "Virtually anyone who imagines an African Safari envisions the big maned lion charging the implacable hunter shouldering his European double rifle." Of course, that's a far cry from how such lions usually get killed, and how Palmer killed his. It remains unclear whether Palmer will face charges, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that federal officials are investigating and are prepared to help Zimbabwe's investigation. Police, meanwhile, have increased patrols around his office in Bloomington. (Jimmy Kimmel has a suggestion for how people can channel their outrage productively.)