SAA Cargo places embargo on endangered species

"South African Airways Cargo on 21 April 2015 issued a Policy and Procedures Advisory to its internal stakeholders advising of the embargo on the transportation of hunting trophies, which is limited to rhino, elephant, tiger, and lion," it said on Thursday, 30 April.

SAA Cargo has in the past experienced a problem where some of the shipments containing hunting trophies were miss-declared and was fined in a foreign country. In this particular instance, early in April 2015 a shipment lodged as machinery spare parts was discovered in Australia whilst in transit to Kuala Lumpur.

"The shipment contained elephant tusks and was seized. We [SAA Cargo] were issued with a notice of seizure. We had to act swiftly to curb the problem of illegal transportation of animals," said SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali.

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," said Tlali.