|  A
lion’s head and skin from an East African safari expedition sits
on display in the club's trophy room in New York. It was donated to The
Explorers Club sometime between 1908 and 1910 by former U.S. president,
big game hunter, conservationist, and adventurer Theodore Roosevelt.
An international outcry has erupted since
an American dentist killed a well-known lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe last
month.
Delta Air Lines said it has banned carrying
trophy animals effective immediately.
Well, it seems enough oblivious
big-game hunters have posed ridiculously with the innocent animals they
have killed to anger the entirety of the world. We’re finally full-up
on murderous idiots.
On July 1, 2015, a 13-year-old lion named
Cecil—one of the main attractions at Hwange National Park in Matabeleland
North, Zimbabwe, and an integral subject of Oxford University’s
Wildlife Conservation Research Unit—was surreptitiously led off
park grounds and then unceremoniously killed—his body skinned and
his head removed—by an American dentist and recreational hunter
named Walter Palmer.
The backlash was swift and merciless. Walter
Palmer’s dental office was shuttered, his clients were instructed
to find another dentist, and his office’s Yelp page became a battleground
of angry reviewers. Dr. Palmer quickly went
underground. Conservationists, animal lovers, activists, celebrities—it
seemed everyone in the world sided (rightly so) with Cecil.
And now you can add Delta Air Lines to the
list.
Earlier today, in response to a SumOfUs.org
petition that received more than 250,000 signatures, Delta
announced a worldwide ban on the shipment of “all lion, leopard,
elephant, rhino, and water buffalo trophies as freight.” Delta also
received an open letter demanding change signed by over 4,000 Delta SkyMiles
Frequent Fliers.
Delta said, “Prior to this ban, [our]
strict acceptance policy called for absolute compliance with all government
regulations regarding protected species. Delta will also review acceptance
policies of other hunting trophies with appropriate government agencies
and other organizations supporting legal shipments.”
SumOfUs.org’s Campaigns Director Paul
Ferris issued the following statement: "Airlines and other large
travel corporations would be foolish to ignore the public reaction to
the killing of Cecil the lion, and growing concern about the plight of
endangered species. We are glad to see Delta Air Lines using its unique
position to help end trophy hunting and protect critically endangered
species.”
“Now other airlines need to do the
same, and stop putting endangered species at risk around the world. It's
clear their customers won't continue to tolerate companies that profit
off the trafficking of these threatened animals."
The sum of us, indeed.
Flossie Arend
For our earlier story on Trophy Transport
Bans Click here.
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