The 52-year-old hunting guide was arrested on Monday because of his alleged link to an illegal smuggling operation. Theo Bronkhorst already has a court date set for September 28 for his role in the killing of the popular feline, Cecil.
Bronkhorst is charged with participating in the smuggling operation that involved transporting 29 sable antelopes, a rare and expensive breed, out of Zimbabwe into South Africa, according to Yahoo News.
“He is facing charges of moving wild animals without a permit” and smuggling of wild animals, police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said in a statement.
The BBC is reporting that he is in jail in the southern city of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city. Bronkhorst was out on bail awaiting trial when he was picked up by the police. Three South African men have already been arrested on the smuggling charges after the trucks they were using to smuggle the antelopes got stuck in a river.
According to wildlife authorities, the three men have been identified as Hewitt Edwin, 49, Blignaut Hendricks Johannes, 41, and Pretorius Herbert John, 49, all from South Africa. They are charged with illegal capture and translocation of wildlife, as well as illegally crossing an international boundary.
Zimbabwe authorities said the animals, which included six sable calves, are valued at US$384,000 (340,000 euros). They were illegally taken from a private conservancy in the northwest resort town of Victoria Falls, reports the Dodo.
The Business Standard quotes a friend of Bronkhorst as trying to tell authorities the antelopes came from Zambia, and all Bronkhorst did was help the South Africans in obtaining an import permit to bring them to Zimbabwe.
“The only thing where Theo was involved is he facilitated their importation into Zimbabwe,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity. “They moved them and obviously lied to him that they had an agreement to move them to some property in the West Nicholson area,” he added.
West Nicholson is about halfway between Bulawayo and the Beitbridge border post that Zimbabwe shares with South Africa. Local media is reporting the vehicles carrying the smuggled antelopes got stuck in the Limpopo River that separates the two countries.
