I applied for my CITES permit for my leopard on September 14 (dropped the application in the mail that day). Yesterday, the permit arrived in the mail. I was surprised that it only took a month to get the permit. Is that typical?

no- consider yourself very lucky. last year it took me over 3 months just to renew a permit for the exact same area where i killed my leopard and the permit was only 1 week expired when i renewed

Hi guys,
Is a CITES permit required for importation of a leopard hide to the U.S. regardless of the country of origin?

I am expecting my leopard mount to be shipped from Namibia in the next few months and should be prepared.

Thanks for you help.

Geoff

I applied for mine last winter after SCI (I picked up the application at the USFWS booth to be sure it was the most current revision). And before I knew it, the permit arrived prior to my April 18th departure on our trip to Namibia. It took 42 days, which everyone told me was exceptional. Is it possible the government is getting more efficient?

geoff - You will have to have a CITES permit before importation or expect to have your Leopard confiscated on arrival. It is much better to have the permit when it arrives than try to get something released that has been snatched by USFW. Others here can expound on more details I am sure.

Larry Sellers

quote:

Originally posted by geoff:
Hi guys,
Is a CITES permit required for importation of a leopard hide to the U.S. regardless of the country of origin?

I am expecting my leopard mount to be shipped from Namibia in the next few months and should be prepared.

Thanks for you help.

Geoff

Mine didn't take very long either, approximately three and a half weeks. When I sent mine in (after the hunt) I sent a map of the hunting area and other details and it seemed to make the process go faster.

quote:

Originally posted by geoff:
Hi guys,
Is a CITES permit required for importation of a leopard hide to the U.S. regardless of the country of origin?

I am expecting my leopard mount to be shipped from Namibia in the next few months and should be prepared.

Thanks for you help.

Geoff

You will need your CITES import permit in hand when your leopard parts arrive. They are good for one year for date issued, unless there has been a recent change.

I was also surprised that it only took a few weeks to get the last one I applied for.

jim

A cites permit must be faxed or emailed to PH in Africa and the mumbers have to match when it arrives or you will be minus a cat...
Shippers and packers will do the rewt..

Mike

I confess to not understanding some of the CITES regulation. I put a deposit last year on a leopard hunt in Limpopo region. I was told the outfitter only got 2 CITES per year for that location. So I booked ahead but this year the RSA regs changed and made bowhunting DG illegal. So I got my deposit back and went ele hunting instead in Zim. I like Zim better anyway

All that to say, I thought the CITES was secured before the hunt not after. I could go look it up and find the info eventually but what is the basic process for CITES hunts such as leopards? I'm researching another hunt for Spots but in Zim this time. Was my previous experience specific to RSA?

Not sure about RSA, but in Zimbabwe it varies by animal. For elephant, the outfitter gets the CITES. For leopard, you get the CITES. It can be obtained before or after the hunt. My sense is that most folks get them after the hunt since there is a $100 to get the permit and if you are unsuccessful you are out the $100 if you purchase it beforehand.

I purchased my CITIES permit aftger the hunt as you can be sure you will receive it before your trophy is ready to leave Africa. Our agencies are slow but nothing to compare with Africian agencies.

I was surprised that mine came that quickly as well.

Mine took right at a month.

In Namibia, the shipper has to have a faxed copy of the US CITES import permit to get an Namibian export permit.

Thanks everyone,
I appreciate the "heads up" and information. It's best to be prepared than suffer disappointment and frustration.

Geoff

When I go out of state for a deer hunt,I buy a tag. Is it any less expectant to buy your CITES permit when you go hunting for leopard in Africa? If you can afford the trip, then you can afford the permit. I gave a copy of my permit to my PH and the trophies came thru in just 4 months. I'd like to think it helped on the speed of delivery.

quote:

Originally posted by retreever:
A cites permit must be faxed or emailed to PH in Africa and the mumbers have to match when it arrives or you will be minus a cat...
Shippers and packers will do the rewt..

Mike

Mike,
I've never had a hunter that had to do this, all of my leopards have come from, Zim, Zambia and Moz. Is this something exclusive to Tanz?

Save yourself some trouble and get your leopard CITES well ahead of time. Applying after the fact will possibly save you a hundred bucks if you are not successful but getting all the appropriate documentation can be a big headache.

If you can afford to hunt leopard you can afford the $100 for the import permit ahead of time to save you some hassle.

Mark

My reading of the CITES import form suggests that an import permit is not required for elephant from zimbabwe. If I am wrong someone jack me up so I can apply for my permit in order I can receive my tusks

For elephant in Zim, no CITES in the US is required for import, the outfitter must have one in Zim though for export. For leopard in Zim, CITES in the US is required for import.

There is a good article on the US Fish and Wildlife website that describes exactly what is needed.

if i am not mistaken every african country is assigned a CITES export quota and they must issue a CITES export permit for each animal killed in order to stay within their quota. in addition the US requires a CITES import permit issued by USFWS for each animal brought in. i was told to bring a copy of my US CITES PERMIT for a leopard with me to Bots. and if i was successful to give the copy of the permit to the outfitter. the Bots. wildlife authorities would not issue an export permit if i could not prove that i could i could legally import it into the US

That is true for leopard but not elephant. And it varies from country to country.

Here is the link to the article I referred to earlier:

http://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/salaet.pdf

Another note to remember is your CITES Permit is only good for 12 months, If you get it too early then it could expire before the trophy shipment arrives. I suggest applying for you permit after you return from your hunt.

YES YOU DO - HERE IS THE LINK TO THE FORM
http://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-19.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by geoff:
Hi guys,
Is a CITES permit required for importation of a leopard hide to the U.S. regardless of the country of origin?

I am expecting my leopard mount to be shipped from Namibia in the next few months and should be prepared.

Thanks for you help.

Geoff

quote:

Originally posted by Hunting Trophy Queen:
YES YOU DO - HERE IS THE LINK TO THE FORM
http://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-19.pdf

Did you notice in the upper right hand corner that it expired already? Expires June 30, 2007

I noticed that on mine. All I can say is, that is form I used in September and I got my permit in about a month.