Dude shot a lion and the internet ruined his life. Can't say I sympathize... I take more issue with calling this hunting. When you pay someone $55,000, that puts a tremendous amount of pressure to deliver results while keeping you safe enough to pay them. This probably goes down more like buying grocery fish and hooking it near a lake for a selfie.
There are lots of non-endangered animals this guy could have shot. Deer are overpopulated and starve to death in winter if we don't thin out the population. Why shoot an animal that's on the brink of extinction? Bragging rights I guess? Except you can't really brag about shooting a lion unless you want to get in trouble with the authorities. This guy will probably get a fine, jail time, and lose his dental practice over this. Was it worth it?
I don't think it's illegal in general... which kinda makes some of the criticism overblown. What makes this instance illegal is the travel company didn't pay the government for a license. They probably intended to keep the whole $55k for themselves, which really isn't the shooters fault. The 2nd issue is that they shot a tagged animal that was part of a conservation/research study and not one they actually hunted in the wild. Legally, I don't think he'll do much worse than a fine. But the internet is like the cobra kai and will show no mercy. His life/business will never be 100% swatting, porn mag, and pizza free.
From what I understand it is illegal, and he faces 10 years in prison in Zimbabwe, which is seeking extradition. The US government is also trying to find him. The White House got 200k petitions and says it plans to do something about him. I doubt he just walks away from this. Animal cruelty cases really piss people off and they don't just get swept under the rug any more, especially one like this that involves an endangered species. People go to prison all the time now for doing stuff to animals.
Using a spotlight at night and a bow is apparently illegal as well. That guy was too experienced to be ignorant of so many different hunting rules. Looks like he just wanted a cheaper price for his lion hunt and was fine with being a crook/hiring crooks to get it.