Three US airlines
have announced that they will no longer accept lion, leopard, elephant, rhino
and buffalo trophies as cargo. The move comes after an American dentist killed
a well-known lion in Zimbabwe last month.
Deutsche Welle, 4 Aug 2015
Delta,
United and American Airlines have banned the shipment of big game hunting
trophies on flights, following similar measures taken by Emirates and South
African Airways.
The
decision comes in the wake of a global uproar over the death of a well-known lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe last month in an allegedly illegal hunt. The man
linked with the death, dentist Walter James Palmer, lives in the US state of
Minnesota, a major hub for Delta.
Delta, the
only American airline to fly directly between the US and Johannesburg, also said
Monday that it would review its acceptance policies for other hunting trophies
with the appropriate government agencies and other organizations.
Even before
the killing of Cecil, activists had urged major airliners not to carry
endangered species killed by trophy hunters. German airline Lufthansa Cargo
halted the shipment of such animals from Africa in June, while Emirates
SkyCargo took the step in May.
As recently as May, Delta said that it would continue to allow such shipments |
'Big PR
gain'
Although
most animals are transported by ship, the new bans are expected to make it
harder for hunters to get their trophies home.
Henry
Harteveldt, a travel industry consultant, noted that airlines like Delta were
probably acting in response to pressure following the news of Cecil's killing.
"I
don't think there was much of this shipment taking place, so there is minimal
revenue loss and big PR gain for them," he told the Associated Press.
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