A Minnesota dentist accused of hunting and killing Cecil, a famous lion in Zimbabwe, said Tuesday that he “had no idea the lion I took was a known, local favorite” and that he may have been misled by hunting guides.

“I hired several professional guides, and they secured all proper permits,” reads a statement from Walter Palmer to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted.”

“I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt. I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt,” the statement read. “I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion.”

The London Telegraph, citing unnamed sources, first named Palmer as Cecil’s killer. The paper described Palmer as an “American hunter who has boasted about shooting a menagerie of animals with his bow and arrow.”

Cecil, believed to have been killed July 1, was one of the nation’s most famous lions and lived in the massive Hwange National Park. The 13-year-old lion’s death on private land outside of the park’s boundary, condemned by the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association, set off a wave of international outrage that centered on Palmer after he was named in connection to the hunt.

Angry commenters have inundated the Yelp and Google Review pages for Palmer’s dental practice, and he has been vilified across social media, as #CecilTheLion became a top worldwide trending topic Tuesday afternoon on Twitter.

The voicemail inbox at Palmer’s dental practice was full Tuesday, and an email from The Post to the practice was not immediately answered.

The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said Palmer “apparently paid USD50 000 for the kill.”

The Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe also named Palmer in connection with Cecil’s death during a Tuesday news conference, according to the Associated Press. Police then confirmed Palmer’s name to the AP.

“We arrested two people and now we are looking for Palmer in connection with the same case,” Zimbabwean police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said.

Palmer said he hasn’t been contacted by American or Zimbabwean officials “but will assist them in any inquires they may have.”

“It is alleged that the hunter connived with the Antoinette land owner, Mr. Honest Trymore Ndlovu to kill the lion,” reads a joint statement from the parks service and the Safari Operators Association. “Ongoing investigations to date suggest that the killing of the lion was illegal since the land owner was not allocated a lion on his hunting quota for 2015. Therefore, all persons implicated in this case are due to appear in court facing poaching charges.”

Ndlovu and professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst will appear in court Wednesday on poaching charges, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management spokeswoman Caroline Washaya-Moyo told The Post.

When asked whether additional people could face charges, including Palmer, Washaya-Moyo, said: “We’ll see how it plays out.” She added that professional hunters and landowners typically first face charges in such cases.

In this situation, they lacked the permit or quota “to justify” killing the lion and are liable for the illegal hunt, the joint statement read.

Citing court records, Palmer pleaded guilty in 2008 to making a false statement to U.S. wildlife officials regarding the location of a black bear killing in Wisconsin during a guided hunt, the New York Times reported. According to the AP, Palmer had a permit to hunt but shot the bear outside the authorized zone in 2006, then tried to pass it off as being killed elsewhere, according to court documents. He was given one year probation and fined nearly $3,000.

The Times chronicled Palmer going on a big game hunt in 2009, a year after he began probation: “As the 2009 season approached, [Palmer] paid $45,000 for a tag at an auction to finance preservation of the elk habitat. Palmer, said to be capable of skewering a playing card from 100 yards with his compound bow, has cultivated a purist’s reputation for his disinclination to carry firearms as backup. . . . ‘I don’t have a golf game,’ Palmer said.”

According to park and safari officials in Zimbabwe, authorities are trying to interview another professional hunter — Zane Bronkhorst — who may have been involved in Cecil the lion’s death.

The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force — a non-governmental organization — alleged that the hunters purposefully lured Cecil out of the park.

“They went hunting at night with a spotlight and they spotted Cecil,” the task force said in a statement. “They tied a dead animal to their vehicle to lure Cecil out of the park and they scented an area about half a kilometre from the park. Mr Palmer shot Cecil with a bow and arrow but this shot didn’t kill him.

“They tracked him down and found him 40 hours later when they shot him with a gun. They found that he was fitted with a GPS collar because he was being studied by the Hwange Lion Research, funded by Oxford University so they tried to destroy the collar but failed because it was found.”

Theo Bronkhorst owns Bushman Safaris, a company offering “top quality hunts with maximum results” and specializing in “leopards with dogs and other big game.”

The company’s Facebook page includes statements proclaiming that hunters help conservation efforts through the fees they pay in order to hunt big game: