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NEW YORK — Three US airlines have banned the transport of lion, leopard, elephant, rhino or buffalo killed by trophy hunters, in the latest fallout from the killing of Zimbabwe’s Cecil the Lion last month.

American Airlines said yesterday it would join Delta Airlines and United Airlines in banning the transport of animals known in Africa as the “big five”, coined by hunters because they are the hardest to kill on foot.

There has been an international outcry against trophy hunting among animal lovers since it emerged that American dentist Walter Palmer killed Cecil, a rare black-maned lion that was a familiar sight at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.

Delta Air Lines Inc, the only American airline to fly directly between the United States and Johannesburg, will also review policies on accepting other hunting trophies with government agencies and other organisations that support legal shipments, it said.

Even before the killing of Cecil the Lion, campaigners had called for major cargo airlines to halt shipments of endangered species killed by trophy hunters.

Nearly 400,000 people signed a Change.org petition that was started by a Delta customer calling for the airline to stop transporting exotic hunting trophies, the organisation said.

Lufthansa Cargo, for example, decided in early June to no longer accept any trophies such as lions, elephants and rhinos from Africa, while Emirates SkyCargo banned such shipments in May.

Although most animals are sent by ship, the bans will make it harder for hunters to get their trophies home to put above the mantelpiece, dealing a blow to Africa’s multi-million-dollar game industry.

South African Airways had also placed an embargo on transporting trophies of rhinos, elephants, tigers and lion in April after incidents of false documentation. But it reversed that decision two weeks ago, saying the Department of Environmental Affairs had agreed to tighten inspections and crack down on false permits.

Zimbabwe has called for the extradition of Palmer, who is accused of killing Cecil in an illegal hunt. The 13-year-old lion was fitted with a GPS collar as part of an Oxford University study.

Meanwhile, the death of Cecil the Lion has sparked donations of more than £500,000 to an appeal founded by a team of conservation researchers.

Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) who set up the appeal to fund future big cat research work announced yesterday that more than £550,000 had been received, meaning the unit’s research may be extended beyond Zimbabwe.

WildCRU’s director, Prof David Macdonald, said the team would devote themselves to working for the conservation of lions following the “incredible generosity”.

“We’ll devote ourselves, supported by the incredible generosity of these donations, to working for the conservation of lions in Hwange (the national park where Cecil was lured from) and, with this marvellous support, the surrounding landscapes in adjoining countries.

“I believe that the worldwide engagement with Cecil’s story transcends the tragic fate of one lion, and sends a signal that people care about conservation and want it to be reflected in how humanity lives alongside nature in the 21st century.

He added: “We feel inspired by this support and will work tirelessly to deliver the science and understanding that will enable wildlife and people to co-exist for the wellbeing of both.”

US talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel prompts viewers to donate to a wildlife research unit.

American philanthropist Tom Kaplan and his wife Daphne agreed to match donations last week so the fund could reach its £500,000 target.

Kaplan said: “Daphne and I are thrilled that the match has been achieved, and are grateful to all who have given to WildCRU’s appeal. Though cat conservation is a global passion, Cecil’s story is personal for us, as funding the Hwange lion project nearly a decade ago – at a time when Cecil was already a participant – represented our first engagement with Oxford’s extraordinary and passionate wildlife conservationists.

“Since Cecil’s illegal death, David Macdonald, Andy Loveridge and the WildCRU team have worked tirelessly to turn this tragedy into an historic moment for the conservation of the lion . . .the big cat that is ‘disappearing in plain sight’. To the unprecedented number of fine people from all walks of life who are turning this pivotal moment into a movement . . . from Jimmy Kimmel to donors big and small . . .in Cecil’s memory, we applaud you all.”

Cecil’s death sparked widespread outrage as it emerged that Walter Palmer, from Minnesota, had paid $50,000 (£32,000) to track and shoot the lion. — Reuters/The Guardian.