Dr. Walter Palmer — the Minnesota dentist who was the target of death threats when he killed Cecil the lion nearly three years ago — is said to be quaking in his boots over the publication of a new book about the beloved cat.
“Palmer’s now worried that animal activists will come after him again,” said an insider.
Next month, Regan Arts brings out “Lion Hearted: The Life & Death of Cecil and the Future of Africa’s Iconic Cats,” by Andrew Loveridge, the Oxford zoologist who has spent almost two decades studying lions, including Cecil.
In a National Geographic excerpt from the book, Loveridge reveals new details about that fatal hunt — alleging that Palmer’s guide lured Cecil out of a sanctuary in Zimbabwe with an elephant carcass and, after they shot the big cat with an arrow, they left him to suffer for at least 10 hours.
With “Lion Hearted” headed for bookstores April 10, a lawyer for Palmer has asked that Regan send over an advance copy, according to an insider.
So far the publisher has declined. “Dr. Palmer is welcome to pre-order a copy on ReganArts.com,” said a Regan rep.
Calls to Palmer’s office were not returned.
When Palmer was first identified as Cecil’s killer, critics around the globe vilified him.
Jimmy Kimmel branded him an “a - - hole” and speculated that he suffered from erectile dysfunction. Mia Farrow tweeted Palmer’s address, encouraging trophy-hunting opponents to picket his office. So many did that Palmer closed his practice for a while and went into hiding.