I have some very bad news for you, especially if you are a dentist from Minnesota whose idea of a fun holiday is to fly to Africa to kill some beautiful animals and have them skinned and beheaded: a number of airlines, including Delta and American have banned the transport of “big-game trophies”. I am slightly surprised they allowed it in the first place, what with all those tusks, heads and furs rattling around with people’s suitcases. It might a little unsettling for the baggage handlers when unloading the hold.
It is difficult to imagine anyone more sick than the murderous Walter Palmer, the man – if you can call anyone who killed a much loved lion with a crossbow a man – who spent $55,000 to kill Cecil the lion, but I suppose that anyone who went to his house specifically to view Cecil’s head has some serious issues to confront too. Or maybe it’s even worse than that and Palmer intended to display the trophy in his surgery, perhaps to distract patients when undergoing root canal surgery? “Right, you need a filling today, so first of all I’ll give you a local anaesthetic. Just a little prick!” “Yes, you certainly are, Dr Palmer!”
I doubt that the community of hunting is confined to the world of American dentists. I would hazard a guess that more than a few Brits participate in hunting beautiful animals. After all, they have plenty of form on the hunting front. I can only imagine the thrill the fox-hunters would get from going after a lion with a crossbow. Now that really is sport, isn’t it?
I hope British Airways, Virgin and all the other carriers ban trophies, that is to say wild animal parts, on all their flights. It won’t end the sick spectacle of more Cecil’s dying an agonising forty hour death but every little helps.
