Zimbabwean authorities earlier said they will seek the extradition of Minnesota dentist Walter James Palmer, alleging he did not have authorization to kill the lion named Cecil a month ago.

Palmer has admitted killing, but said he believed he had the right hunting license and did not know Cecil was part of a conservation study.

Also on Sunday, officials dismissed a report of the shooting death of a male lion who was a companion of Cecil, a well-known lion killed alleged to have been by American hunter Dr. Walter Palmer, a Minnesota dentist, in early July.

“It was too late to apprehend the foreign poacher because he had already absconded to his country of origin”.

When asking for the dentist’s extradition on Friday, Oppah Muchinguri, Zimbabwe’s environment minister, insisted that Palmer had “a well-orchestrated agenda which would tarnish the image of Zimbabwe and further strain the relationship between Zimbabwe and the USA”.

Zimbabwe authorities, however, have not announced any charges against Palmer, only saying they want to speak with him, and the U.S. embassy was not aware of any extradition requests. In addition, bow and arrow hunts have been suspended unless they are approved by the head of the director of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, the organisation said.

Zimbabwe officials are appealing to U.S. authorities for help and have begun the extradition process, Muchinguri said.

Mr Palmer has not been charged in Zimbabwe or the United States. Two Zimbabweans — a professional hunter and a farm owner — have been arrested in the killing of the lion, an act which has garnered worldwide condemnation. Palmer says the hunt, he reportedly paid $50,000 to experience, was within Zimbabwean law.

Palmer’s guide, Theo Bronkhorst, said the hunt went “wrong from the beginning”.

Despite the global media coverage of Cecil’s killing, the big cat’s untimely demise has gone largely unnoticed in Zimbabwe, where average annual income is just over $1,000 and unemployment is higher than 80 percent. I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt. Bob Mendez, D-N.J., would block hunters from bringing trophy animals listed as threatened or endangered species back to the United States.