Bloomington, Minn. • The Minnesota dentist who killed Cecil the lion returned to work Tuesday after weeks away, walking silently into his dental practice, past swarming media and a handful of protesters calling for him to be sent to Zimbabwe to face trial.
Walter Palmer had largely retreated from public view since he was identified as Cecil's killer in July, offering little insight into the hunt that until a Sunday interview with The Associated Press in which he defended the kill as legal.
Cathy Pierce said she drove more than an hour from her home in East Bethel, Minn., to the Bloomington clinic to "fight for animals who can't fight for themselves."
She scoffed at Palmer's suggestion in his AP interview that protesters had unfairly targeted his employees and family, in some cases threatening violence.
"We're not picking on his staff or his family. We're picking on him," she said. "We want him to know that we're not going to forget."
While Palmer's guides on the hunt have either been charged or await charges for their involvement in Cecil's killing, the Zimbabwean government's pursuit of the dentist has cooled off amid fears it could hamper a hunting industry that is lucrative and important for the country.
Palmer had said he relied on local guides for the hunt that killed Cecil, who authorities have said was lured from a protected wildlife preserve. He repeated in Sunday's interview that neither he nor anyone in his party knew the lion was special and said if he had known, "obviously I wouldn't have taken it."
Small notes are placed on the front door of the dental practice of Walter Palmer, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015, in Bloomington, Minn. Palmer, after weeks out of the public eye, was the subject of an international uproar after he was identified as the hunter who killed the famous lion Cecil in Zimbabwe. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
A security guard removes statements pasted to the front door of the dental practice of Walter Palmer, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015, in Bloomington, Minn. Palmer, after weeks out of the public eye, was the subject of an international uproar after he was identified as the hunter who killed the famous lion Cecil in Zimbabwe. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Dentist Walter Palmer enters his dental practice on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015 in Bloomington, Minn. Palmer returned to his practice after weeks out of the public eye. He was the subject of an international uproar after he was identified as the hunter who killed the famous lion in Zimbabwe. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES LOCAL TELEVISION OUT
Demonstrators gather outside the dental practice of Walter Palmer, who returned to his practice, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015, in Bloomington, Minn. Palmer, after weeks out of the public eye, was the subject of an international uproar after he was identified as the hunter who killed the famous lion Cecil, in Zimbabwe. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Demonstrators gather outside the dental practice of Walter Palmer, who returned to work, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015, in Bloomington, Minn. Palmer, after weeks out of the public eye, was the subject of an international uproar after he was identified as the hunter who killed the famous lion Cecil, in Zimbabwe. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
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