Charges against a professional hunter alleged to have helped an American dentist kill a famous lion named Cecil have been dropped by a Zimbabwean court, the BBC reports.
The court ruled that the charges against Theo Bronkhorst “were too vague to enable to him to mount a proper defense”.
According to his lawyer Perpetua Dube, the offence did not have the force of the law and was not criminal in nature.
The American dentist who killed the famed lion last year, Walter Palmer, was not charged.
Cecil, a favorite at Hwange National Park, was shot by Mr Palmer with a bow and arrow. He is said to have paid about $50,000 (£32,000) to hunt the lion.
The lion’s killing sparked international outrage, and prompted a global campaign to end lion trophy hunting.
Mr Bronkhorst said in court that he had obtained all the permits required to kill an elderly lion that was outside the national park boundaries. He remains a free man, though the state could still press fresh charges.
Cecil attracted photographic safaris and was part of an Oxford research project into lions at the Hwange National Park.
