Jane Goodall has penned a letter urging UPS to stop shipping wildlife trophies.
“In the wake of Cecil the Lion’s cruel and untimely death, I am writing to you in the hope that UPS will join many of the world’s major airlines and impose a ban on transporting hunting trophies as soon as possible,” she wrote. "As I’m sure you know, Cecil was illegally lured out of the safety of his protected territory at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park. He was shot by a Minnesota dentist with a crossbow, left to suffer for 40 hours, shot again — this time with a gun — and killed. He was then beheaded and skinned, leaving his family of cubs fatherless and vulnerable. As lions attempt to take over a pride, they eliminate the genes of their rivals and because of Cecil’s murder, one of his cubs has already been killed by a rival male.
“Cecil’s story was special because he was an icon in Zimbabwe, but the story of suffering and impact on family is similar for hundreds of animals each year as a result of trophy hunters – who consider their behavior “sport”. One of the goals of a trophy hunter is to take the head or other body parts of the animals he has killed and proudly exhibit them in his home for all his friends to admire. It would make a huge difference if it became more and more difficult to achieve this despicable goal.
“It would be wonderful if UPS would join the other companies who are now refusing to ship body parts of rhinos, elephants, lions, tigers and other wild animals. I am sure that you are as horrified as I am by this killing to gratify the ego.”
