Cecil’s ghost stalks SA hunting sector

THE GOVERNMENT has said it is “disappointed” by a ban on the shipment of big game trophies by Delta Air Lines following the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe last month as it will harm the country’s legal hunting industry. Delta, the only US carrier that flies directly to South Africa, said on Monday it would no longer carry carcasses of lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceros and buffalo as freight on its aircraft. United Airlines Group, American Airlines and Qatar Airways also announced similar embargoes this week, amid growing anger over the killing of the lion by American dentist Walter Palmer. “The decision by Delta Airlines to enforce a blanket ban fails to distinguish between the trade in and transportation of legally acquired wildlife specimens, and the illegal exploitation and trade in wildlife specimens,” the Department of Environmental Affairs said yesterday. – Bloomberg