Theo Bronkhorst made the remarks after his trial for failing to prevent an illegal hunt was postponed.

He said the case was “crazy” and the permits to kill Cecil the lion outside Hwange National Park had been obtained.

The killing in July has caused outrage around the world and the dentist, Walter Palmer, is in hiding.

Protests have been held outside his dental clinic in Minnesota and vandals spray-painted “lion killer” on the garage of his holiday home in Florida earlier this week.

Read the article “Cecil the Lion’s Killer a Good Man, Says Zimbabwe Hunter” on bbc.com.