Delta Airlines and Court Leave Hobby Hunters Out in the Cold

A trophy hunter from Texas, USA paid $350,000 for the killing of a protected rhinoceros in Africa.

However, the airline Delta Airlines refused to transport his trophy. A court has now ruled that the hobby hunter cannot sue the airline on these grounds. The court's reasoning: airlines may transport whatever they choose, as long as the rules apply equally to all passengers.

Hobby hunter Corey Knowlton of the Dallas Safari Club made headlines in January 2014 when he won the right to shoot the rhinoceros at an auction and barbarically followed through four months later.

Delta Airlines had also announced in 2014 that it would no longer transport trophies from lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceroses, or buffalo. The company stated: “Delta Airlines will also investigate whether additional hunting trophies will fall under the ban.” Delta was responding to the scandal surrounding the lion Cecil, who had been killed by another US tourist on a big-game hunt in Zimbabwe.

American, United Airlines, Air Canada, Virgin Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Qatar, Etihad, Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Air France, and others also take a dim view of trophy hunting and do not transport hunting trophies.

Trophy hunting as wildlife conservation and development aid is, like so much else, a great hobby hunter myth.

The worldwide outrage at the hobby hunter mafia can thus chalk up yet another success.

Related dossiers and articles:

• Dossier: Trophy Hunting
• Dossier: Hobby Hunting Tourism
• Dossier: Killer Photos
• Dossier: Hunting Myths
• Get Involved