LUFTHANSA CARGO Position On Big Game Hunting Trophy Transport

LUFTHANSA CARGO Position On Big Game Hunting Trophy Transport

Recently, I posted a piece highlighting the fact that South African Airways has put in place a policy that bans the transport of any large or endangered Wildlife Hunting Trophies aboard their passenger or cargo airplanes.

In addition to SAA, Emirates has now created a policy that takes effect on May 15 that also provides for the ban of Large Trophy Game transport on its aircraft as well.

To this end, I want to bring your attention to Lufthansa’s position on the topic.

I contacted LH Cargo soon after the SAA news to confirm what Lufthansa’s position is on this very important topic.   I’m glad to report that LH has policies similar to the aforementioned airlines in place.  In fact I think the LH policies may go a bit beyond what SAA has in place.   According to the internal memo from SAA it targets only specific animals (Rhino, Elephant, Lion, and Tiger):

a document with text on it

 

This leads me to think that SAA will still allow the transport of other Game not specifically listed in their internal communications.

In an email exchange with my contacts at Lufthansa Cargo, I was able to gain confirmation that Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo do not engage in the transport of Large Trophy Animals or animals protected under CITES 1.

From LH Cargo:

“We definitely do not transport large game trophies and, of course, no trophies for any endangered species, complying with CITES 1 regulations”

Animals that ‘qualify’ under CITES 1 include Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Tiger, Cheetah, Leopard, Zebra, Giraffe and other large game.  Based on my interpretation of CITES 1, it provides for a ban on the commercial export or import of Game that is endangered or can potentially be endangered by harvesting.      It does not apply to Game that is not at risk, such as Impala, Kudu and other antelope or small game not listed as an at-risk species.

If I interpret the LH statement correctly, it appears that they go beyond what is just required by CITES and may in fact go beyond what SAA and Emirates have put into place since they suggest that they transport NO Large game, not just CITES 1 protected animals.

Personally, I would like to see airlines band together and create a standardized policy that addresses this very sensitive and important topic.    If it one day becomes impossible to transport ANY Animal Trophy due to airline policies, we will have made major strides in reducing the amount of senseless murders that take place of defenseless animals.

If game hunters realize that they can’t bring home the carcass of what they senselessly slaughtered while on vacation, perhaps then the animals will have a fighting chance.

 

a close-up of a plane

A Week On Safari In Africa:   Here’s A Taste Of Upcoming Reports

A Week On Safari In Africa: Here’s A Taste Of Upcoming Reports

You may or may not have noticed, but LufthansaFlyer.com was fairly dormant for most of the last 10 days.    It wasn’t for a lack of content or news regarding LH……

What created this vacuum in the blogosphere was the fact that my wife and I spent an unbelievable week on Safari in Africa.   With polygraph attach, I can say that it was by far THE……BEST……VACATION…..that I’ve ever been on.   What we saw, who we met and what we observed was unlike anything else that either one of us has ever experienced.

I do know that my cameras came back with 10 full memory cards and approximately 6500 photos and 4 hours of video.   The prospects of sorting through all of it feels akin to putting a firehose in my mouth and turning the valve.

I’m having trouble where to start my series of trip reports due to the aforementioned statements.

The week on Safari in Africa was framed with 3 long haul flights by Lufthansa and 1 by United.   I changed our outbound flight from the USA to UA since LH pilots had announced a long haul strike for the day were flying to FRA.  I did not want to jeopardize our trip so was proactive but in hindsight we would have been fine on the LH flights since most long haul flights operated as usual.

As I sort through content and photos, I’ll use this post as an introduction and future installments will go in more details on our experiences.  I’ll go into much greater details on the fantastic lodge, our hosts and the wonderful creatures that we saw from sun up to sun down (and later) each day!

So for now, enjoy a small appetizer of what my cameras captured……..

 

a group of lions lying in dry grass

A Lioness guards her pride while they rest after a successful hunt…..

a leopard lying down with its mouth open

a leopard eating a deer in a tree

One of the first things we saw, a Leopard guarding his kill from a pack of Hyenas….

a monkey sitting in a tree

A monkey takes a moment…..

 

an elephant walking in the grass

Taking a breather before continuing his dinner.

a group of buffaloes in a field

Of all the ‘Big 5’, the buffalo is perhaps the most dangerous.

 

a rhinoceros lying in the shade of trees

A rare sighting as Rhinos tend not to lay down.

 

two lions lying in the grass

Kings of the jungle caught having a ‘moment’…..

a group of zebras standing together

One of my favorite moments as the Zebras almost appear to pose….Why does the one on the right remind me of Jerry Lewis……

a cheetah sitting next to a tree

A cheetah ponders her options prior to stalking her prey……

an elephant drinking water from a pool

An adolescent Elephant uses our plunge pool as an open bar…….

a river with trees and a cloudy sky

It wasn’t all ‘claws and paws’, the scenery and sunsets were spectacular.