PICTURED: The American dentist who killed Cecil, Africa's most famous lion, with a bow and arrow on $55,000 hunting trip

An American dentist has been identified as the hunter, who used a bow and arrow to kill one of Africa's most famous lions.

Walter J Palmer, from Minnesota, is thought to have traveled to Zimbabwe and allegedly paid £35,000 ($55,000) for a permit to kill Cecil the Lion.

The much loved lion was wounded by arrow after he was lured out of the national park by the hunter's bait. After spending two days tracking the injured beast, Cecil was eventually found and shot dead. The corpse was then skinned and the head hacked off as a trophy.

Professional Zimbabwean hunter Theo Bronkhorst and local landowner Honest Ndlovu will appear in court on poaching charges for allegedly killing Cecil. Dailymail