Airlines announce ban on game trophies after Cecil killing

Major air carriers Delta, United and American Airlines announced on Monday that they will no longer accept freight shipments of lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros or buffalo hunting trophies.

Almost 400,000 people signed a Change.org petition that was started by a Delta customer calling for the airline to stop transporting exotic hunting trophies, the organisation said.

The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, a nongovernmental organization, believes that Cecil was lured off the Hwange National Park – land on which he was protected.

Virgin Atlantic banned such transport “as part of our ethical cargo policy adopted a number of years ago” and it goes so far as to include endangered species and shark fins “and any animals for research purposes”, spokeswoman Harriet Bevis said.

Its announcement came as several other airlines indicated that they are – or soon will be – stopping the transport of all trophy-hunting kills.

The government of Zimbabwe wants to extradite Palmer, saying he violated their laws in killing Cecil.

It’s been reported that after Cecil’s death, Palmer requested help in finding an elephant with tusks above a certain weight.

The South African Airways Cargo, the airfreight division of the South African Airways also lately announced banning the shipment of lion, tiger, rhino and elephant trophies, but lifted the ban just last month.

Late Monday night, American Airlines announced its own ban on shipments of trophies from the animals that comprise what hunters frequently call “the big five”.

The killing of Cecil the lion by a Minnesota dentist in early July cast a spotlight on trophy hunting and sparked a social media outcry. However, he trophies will not be allowed to be transferred onto other flights in the future. United, American and other worldwide airlines followed suit.

Delta would not answer questions from The Associated Press about why the decision was made now and how many hunting trophies it has shipped in recent years. But if the hunters can’t fill their trophy rooms with big game carcasses, maybe they’ll stay home and hunt deer instead.