Lawyers for professional Zimbabwean hunter Theo Bronkhorst, who led the expedition that killed Cecil the lion, on Monday applied to have the case against him thrown out of court.
The hunt provoked worldwide outrage after it emerged that Cecil was a well-known attraction among visitors to the Hwange National Park and was wearing a tracking collar as part of an Oxford University research project.
Regional magistrate Dambudzo Malunga accepted the court application and remanded the case until October 15 when she said she would determine if Bronkhorst’s trial should go ahead.
Bronkhorst, 52, has been charged with “failing to prevent an illegal hunt” when American dentist Walter Palmer paid $55,000 (50,000 euros) to shoot the lion with a bow and arrow in early July.
Bronkhorst denies any wrongdoing, saying he had obtained all the permits required to kill an elderly lion that was outside the national park boundaries.
