Harare - Theo Bronkhorst, accused of arranging the hunt in which Cecil, the world’s most famous lion, was shot dead near Hwange National Park in July, was arrested on Monday and accused by Zimbabwean police of attempting to illegally export 29 sables to South Africa.
Bronkhorst, 52, was arrested as he reported to police in Bulawayo as part of his bail conditions before his trial get under way in the Cecil case.
He has told his lawyers that he imported a particular bloodline of sables into Zimbabwe from Zambia as they had longer-than-usual horns and were favoured by international hunters.
South African game farmers also wanted some of the sables, and so he made a deal with Zambian exporters for himself and the South Africans.
The animals arrived in Zimbabwe last month as the Cecil story hit the world’s headlines.
Zimbabwean police said Edwin Hewitt, 49, Hendricks Blignaut 41, and John Pretorius, 49, from Bela Bela in Limpopo, were arrested last week.
“The South Africans had no capture and translocation permits and no export permits for the sables. The only documentation they had was a movement permit issued by the Department of Veterinary Services,” Caroline Washaya-Moyo, for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, said.
Bronkhorst is due to stand trial in Hwange on September 28, accused of arranging an illegal hunt for Walter Palmer, an American dentist who shot Cecil on farmland near the Hwange National Park. Bronkhorst has denied the charges.
Two others were also arrested in connection with the hunt, and while Zimbabwe originally said it would seek Palmer’s extradition, it has done nothing to take the matter further.
Independent Foreign Service