Cecil

Details: Published on Thursday, 30 July 2015 10:45; Written by editor

SumOfUs r1 ...

Cecil the Lion was murdered by a dentist from the US.

Facing backlash, some major airlines have agreed to stop transporting dead animal "trophies" around the world. But others are still happy to traffic in endangered species.

Demand that all global airlines stop transporting endangered animal "trophies" now!

Sign the petition

Cecil, the majestic thirteen year-old lion and national symbol of Zimbabwe was stalked, skinned and beheaded by a dentist from the United States.

The poacher, in Zimbabwe on a "trophy" hunt, illegally lured the regal lion out of the protected territory of Hwange National Park, before shooting him with an arrow and gunning him down.

But there's another villain in this story -- global airline companies who are happy to transport these dead, endangered species “trophies” around the world. If airlines refused, illegal trophy hunters would be stuck and the lions would be safe. Emirates has already announced a ban -- others need to join them without delay.

Sign the petition to demand global airlines ban the transport of dead endangered species -- and then share on social media with all your friends so the airlines see.

Lions are incredibly vulnerable. One hundred years ago it’s estimated that 200,000 lions roamed across Africa, but now they number fewer than 30,000.

With Cecil’s brutal death, more than a dozen of Cecil’s cubs now also risk being killed, as another male asserts dominance in the pride.

Trophy hunters claim the profit from licensing goes to animal conservation. But there are better ways of protecting animals than killing them! In any case, critics say much of the profit gets siphoned off by corrupt officials, and many of the parts of the endangered animals end up traded on the black market.

All this was preventable. Cecil was poached, plain and simple.

But the attraction for trophy hunters is being able to display the animal they butchered when they get home. If airlines stopped putting their profits above conservation by banning their transport, the bottom would drop out of the market.

Cecil’s death has already erupted over social media -- but so far, airlines are avoiding any scrutiny for their role in the trophy hunting. Let’s change that.

Tell all global airways to immediately ban the transportation of dead endangered species on their planes, and share with your friends.

We know that pressure on the world’s largest corporations to change can work. When tens of thousands of us spoke up to demand that major fashion retailers stop selling angora fur, several major fashion retailers pulled angora products from their shelves. And public pressure from SumOfUs members has pushed two major home improvement firms to stop selling bee-killing pesticides.

Now, it’s up to airlines to act as well to save our endangered species.

Thanks for all that you do,
Paul, Angus, Nicole, and the team at SumOfUs

More information:

Cecil the lion's death prompts calls to ban trophy hunt imports to US, The Guardian, 30 July 2015
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