US airlines refuse to fly 'trophies'

05 August 2015 - 02:04 By Reuters

Three US airlines have said they will no longer transport lion, leopard, elephant, rhino or buffalo killed by trophy hunters. This is the latest fallout from the killing of Zimbabwe's Cecil the lion last month.American Airlines said yesterday it would join Delta and United in banning the transport of the animals or their body parts.There has been an international outcry against trophy hunting since it emerged that American dentist Walter Palmer killed Cecil, a rare black-maned lion that was a familiar sight at Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park.Delta Air Lines, the only American airline to fly direct between the US and Johannesburg, will also review policies on accepting other trophies with government agencies and other organisations that support legal shipments, it said.Even before the killing of Cecil the lion, campaigners had called for major cargo airlines to halt shipments of endangered species killed by trophy hunters.Nearly 400000 people signed a Change.org petition started by a Delta client calling for the airline to stop transporting exotic hunting trophies, the organisation said.Zimbabwe has called for the extradition of Palmer, who is accused of killing Cecil in an illegal hunt...

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