SAA will no longer transport hunting trophies
4 May 2015
South African Airways Cargo (SAA Cargo) will no longer transport hunting trophies
around the world, the airfreight company has said.
It issued a policy and procedures advisory to its internal stakeholders advising of
the embargo on the transportation of hunting trophies on 21 April. The embargo is
limited to rhino, elephant, tiger, and lion.
SAA Cargo is the division of South African Airways (SAA) that focuses on airfreight
movement worldwide. It uses belly space of SAA's passenger flights for cargo
carriage and also runs a fleet of three dedicated cargo Boeing 737-300Fs.
In the past it had experienced a problem in which some shipments containing
hunting trophies were misdeclared and the group was fined in a foreign country. In
one particular instance, early in April 2015, a shipment lodged as machinery spare
parts was discovered in Australia while in transit to Kuala Lumpur. The shipment
contained elephant tusks and
was seized.
SAA Cargo was issued with a Notice of Seizure. "We had to act swiftly to curb the
problem of illegal transportation of animals," said Tlali Tlali, SAA's spokesperson.
SAA Cargo will keep the embargo in place until all other options have been
considered and stricter control measures have been put in place to prevent a
recurrence. "When such measures are implemented we will advise all stakeholders
accordingly in South Africa and at our international stations."
Africa Geographic, which publishes magazines and blogs about natural
history and travel, reports that "the illegal trafficking of wildlife products has
become a multi-billion dollar industry and the airways are constantly looking for
new ways to combat the illegal trade.
"Recently sniffer dogs have been introduced to many of the international airports in
South Africa. SAA have also put their personnel through rigorous training in order
for them to be able to
identify various different wildlife products."
SAinfo reporter
