Delta Airlines on Monday, August 3, 2015 said that it would no longer accept lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo hunting trophies.
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Delta had been the target of an online petition started three months ago by a California man urging the company to the transport of exotic trophies.
The ban, effective immediately, comes in the wake of public outcry over the killing of Zimbabwe’s beloved Cecil the Lion by Minnesota dentist and trophy hunter Walter Palmer.
Department spokesperson, Albi Modise said hunting contributes nearly R6.2 billion to South Africa’s GDP, with Americans being its most important industry players.
But Delta was the first American airline that announced the ban on shipment of big-game trophies. (South African Airways banned trophy shipments early this year, but lifted the ban in July.).
United Airlines has announced a similar ban, according to the Guardian. “We felt it made sense to do so”, Charles Hobart, a United spokesman, said Monday in disclosing the carrier’s decision.
Authorities in Zimbabwe recently named another American alleged to have taken part in an illegal trophy kill of a lion in the country. At the time, Delta staunchly refused to enact such a ban and said that the airline will continue to observe government regulations.
Palmer allegedly paid $50,000 for the privilege of killing a lion, and that price is not atypical – big-game hunting effectively redistributes wealth from prosperous western tourists to some of the world’s most cash-strapped African governments.
The fact is, trophy hunting of lions, elephants, and rhinos is a net revenue loser for African economies.
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“In Africa overall”, the report says, Americans “make up the greatest number” of big-game hunters targeting the big five, as well as animals such as antelopes and zebras – “particularly in countries where hunting safaris are expensive”. The lion was an attraction at the Hwange National Park and was studied by University of Oxford researchers for seven years.
