Delta bans big-game trophy shipments

Delta Air Lines is banning the shipment of big-game trophies worldwide following the killing of Zimbabwe’s beloved Cecil the lion, the airline announced Monday.

{mosads}Delta previously allowed such shipments as long as they complied with regulations concerning protected species.

“Lions, elephants and the other species that make up the Africa Big Five belong on the savanna, not on the walls and in home museums of wealthy people who spend a fortune to kill the grandest, most majestic animals in the world,” President and CEO Wayne Pacelle said in a statement. “Delta has set a great example, and no airline should provide a get-away vehicle for the theft of Africa’s wildlife by these killers.” 

Delta is one of the few U.S. airlines that offers flights directly to Africa. 

Other airlines like British Airways, Air France, KLM, Singapore Airways, Lufthansa, Air Emirates, Iberia Airlines, IAG Cargo and Qantas have issued similar prohibition on trophy animal cargo, according to the website SumOfUS.org, which has petitioned for the bans. 

“The attraction for trophy hunters is being able to display the animal they butchered when they get home,” the website says its petition.

“If airlines stopped putting their profits above conservation by banning their transport, the bottom would drop out of the market,” the petition continues. “Tell all global airways to immediately ban the transportation of dead endangered species on their planes.” 

– Keith Laing contributed.