The American dentist, who faced global backlash earlier this summer after he killed Cecil the lion, has spoken out for the first time ever to tell his side of the story and to announce that he plans to return to work on Tuesday.

Dr. Walter Palmer has been at the center of a firestorm of controversy since he killed the renowned lion during a trophy hunt in Africa back in late July. Palmer reportedly paid around $50,000 to hunt the black-maned African lion with local tour guides, who used bait to lure Cecil out of the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. Once the lion was off of park grounds, Palmer shot him with an arrow. The hunters then reportedly tracked the lion for 40 hours before fatally shooting the wild cat.

The killing sparked an outpouring of global outrage, once it was discovered that the Minnesota dentist was responsible for his death. The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said it was illegal to kill Cecil, while the government of Zimbabwe called for the extradition of the dentist, reports PBS News Hour.

In response, Palmer released a statement saying that he had no idea that the lion was a star attraction at the Hwange National Park that was also being tracked by scientists at the University of Oxford, reports the New York Times.

Now, six weeks later, Palmer broke his silence on Sunday, giving a 25-minute interview with The Associated Press and the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

"If I had known this lion had a name and was important to the country or a study, obviously I wouldn't have taken it," Palmer told the AP and Star Tribune. "Nobody in our hunting party knew before or after the name of this lion."

Palmer reiterated that he believes he acted legally. He also disputed conservationist accounts that the wounded lion wandered for 40 hours before he was fatally shot with a gun. Rather, the dentist said Cecil was tracked down the next day and killed with an arrow.

Palmer went on to say that he, his wife and adult daughter have since been under tremendous stress.

"I've been out of the public eye seeing family and friends," said the big-game hunter, adding, "This has been especially hard on my wife and my daughter. They've been threatened in the social media, and again ... I don't understand that level of humanity to come after people not involved at all."

He also revealed that he plans on Tuesday to return to his suburban Minneapolis dental practice, which became the target of protests and threats, for the first time since the incident.

"I have a lot of staff members, and I'm a little heartbroken at the disruption in their lives," said the 55-year-old dentist. "And I'm a health professional. I need to get back to my staff and my patients, and they want me back. That's why I'm back."

When asked whether he would continue to go hunting in Zimbabwe, Palmer said, "I don't know about the future. Zimbabwe has been a wonderful country for me to hunt in, and I have always followed the laws."