Delta Air Lines Inc. on Monday said that it will no longer carry
hunting trophies of lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceros and
buffaloes as freight.
The No. 3 U.S. airline by traffic, the sole U.S. carrier to
Africa, said before the ban, its acceptance policy required
compliance with all government regulations regarding protected
species.
Delta said it would also review acceptance of other hunting
trophies with government agencies and organizations supporting
legal shipments.
Hunting trophies have been in the news -- creating a storm of
outrage on the Internet -- since a Minnesota dentist last month
allegedly killed Cecil, a popular 13-year-old protected lion in
Zimbabwe, on a hunt that may not have been legal. Zimbabwe is
seeking the dentist's extradition and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service said it was investigating.
Consumer group SomeOfUs.org said Monday that it received more
than 250,000 signatures on an online petition urging international
airlines to take action. "Airlines and other large travel
corporations would be foolish to ignore the public reaction to the
killing of Cecil the lion, and the growing concern about the plight
of endangered species," the group said in a statement lauding
Delta's ban. "Now other airlines need to do the same, and stop
putting endangered species at risk around the world."
Write to Susan Carey at susan.carey@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires