The office had been closed ever since it went massively viral in July that Palmer had killed a well-known lion named Cecil during an illegal big game hunt that he paid $55,000 to participate in.
The dentist and the local hunters used a dead animal as bait to lure the famed 13-year-old lion out of the protected area. He then shot Cecil with a bow and arrow, tracked him for the next 40 hours, and eventually shoot him with a gun before skinning and beheading him.
Protests have been held outside his office, River Bluff Dental, and his Florida vacation home was vandalized, with spray paint and bloody pig’s feet left scattered across the driveway.
Palmer’s whereabouts remain unknown, but Zimbabwe is asking that the United States extradite him to face charges.
In 2008, Palmer pleaded guilty to federal poaching charges after killing a black bear in Wisconsin, 40 miles outside of the legal hunting zone. He was sentenced to one year of probation and fined $3,000, clearly not harsh enough a penalty to deter him from killing again.
A private security guard outside the practice asked a reporter from AP to leave when they asked him for a comment.
