Cecil the lion, a popular attraction among international visitors to Hwange National Park, was lured outside the reserve's boundaries by bait and killed earlier this month.
The hunter was identified as Walter James Palmer, an experienced trophy hunter from Minnesota, who paid $50,000 (B1,747,350) for the hunt.
Professional Zimbabwean hunter Theo Bronkhorst and local landowner Honest Ndlovu will appear in court in Victoria Falls today to face poaching charges.
"Both the professional hunter and land owner had no permit or quota to justify the offtake of the lion and therefore are liable for the illegal hunt," the Zimbabwean Parks Authority said in a statement yesterday (July 28).
"[They] are being jointly charged for illegally hunting the lion."
The statement made no mention of Palmer, but added that Bronkhorst's son Zane was also wanted for questioning.
The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force charity said Palmer and Bronkhorst had gone out at night with a spotlight and tied a dead animal to their vehicle to lure Cecil into range.
"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," the charity alleged.
It added that the hunters unsuccessfully tried to hide the dead lion's tracking collar, which was part of a University of Oxford research programme.
"Cecil was skinned and beheaded. We don't know the whereabouts of the head," the charity alleged.
Cecil, aged about 13, was said by safari operators to be an "iconic" animal who was recognised by many visitors to Hwange due to his distinctive black mane.
"A lot of people travel long distances coming to Zimbabwe to enjoy our wildlife and obviously the absence of Cecil is a disaster," Emmanuel Fundira, president of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, told reporters in the capital Harare.
He described the lion as "almost semi-domesticated".
Hwange attracted 50,000 visitors last year, about half of them from abroad.
Palmer is well-known in US hunting circles as an expert shot with his bow and arrow, and has travelled across the world in pursuit of leopards, buffalo, rhino, elk and other large mammals.
Palmer, who reportedly pleaded guilty in 2008 to poaching a black bear in Wisconsin, said he had "relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt".
"I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practise responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion," Palmer said in a statement.