Protesters stood outside of Dr. Walter Palmer's dental clinic earlier this week, asking for justice for the dentist's killing of Cecil The Lion. The Minnesotan dentist and his guides in Zimbabwe reportedly lured the beloved lion outside a protected park before killing it using a crossbow.
Palmer and his hunting group later skinned the 13-year-old lion and took the head, belatedly realizing that a tracking device was placed around its neck for an Oxford University study.
Palmer, who had to temporarily close his business, was reportedly forced into hiding as he sent an email to his patients apologizing for the disruption of their appointments.
He also said insisted that he 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."
The news sparked outraged reactions from celebrities and people in general. Jimmy Kimmel publicly bashed the hunter during his show, even tearing up as he asked people to support the group monitoring Cecil The Lion before he was killed.
Palmer's neighbours in Eden Prairie, Minnesota also shared their opinions about the man in question. According to The Guardian, one person they interviewed had fond thoughts of the dentist.
Anita Gibson, whose daughter was Palmer's daughter's playmate, thought the man was "kind and gracious." He was also a "doting father" with "a very nice family."
His patients and other acquaintances, however, gave mixed opinions of the man.
Brandon Thomas reportedly didn't know anything about "his penchant for poaching."
"My family stopped going to him because he would ask for our money before even working [on our teeth]," former patient Lexy McGuire shared, although, she also added that she didn't think he "had bad intentions on killing the lion."
"I don't think he would have done this if he knew he would lose clients [or] money over it," she added.
According to CNN, Zimbabwe has started extradition proceedings for Palmer to face prosecution for financing an illegal hunt. His guide and the owner of the land where they hunted Cecil The Lion are also being accused of condoning the illegal hunt.
