Does anyone have recent experience importing leopards from Zimbabwe to the US? I had been thinking of having Conservation Force handle the permitting for me, but since they doubled their price from $1000 to $2000, I at least thought I would ask to see if there's any recent experience.

Thanks in advance!

Things are a mess now with the airlines. Only Turkis air will fly Cities 1 trophies and then only to New York or Atlanta. You have to FedEx them from there. There are other means of getting your leopard back other than Conservation Force.

I sent you a PM.

Hannay,

If Conservation Force has raised their fee I would pay it just to have the piece of mind in knowing that ALL the T's were crossed and I's dotted.

Mark

Interesting topic. I imported my own leopard back in 2008.Got my CITES import permit prior to my Botswana Safari in 2007. Shot it, had it shipped to RSA and taxidermied, then shipped to SFO. When it arrived, I drove to the USFWS office at the airport with my permit, cleared the paperwork, drove to the airline storage building, presented my paperwork, had the crate loaded in my truck. Total time at the airport was less than 2 hours. No customs clearing agent was involved. My, how times have changed……

Yeah! Those were the days. Fill out a form and send it in to USFG. In a little while you get the permit. Nothing to it.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
Interesting topic. I imported my own leopard back in 2008.Got my CITES import permit prior to my Botswana Safari in 2007. Shot it, had it shipped to RSA and taxidermied, then shipped to SFO. When it arrived, I drove to the USFWS office at the airport with my permit, cleared the paperwork, drove to the airline storage building, presented my paperwork, had the crate loaded in my truck. Total time at the airport was less than 2 hours. No customs clearing agent was involved. My, how times have changed……

Surprisingly, the people at SFO are some of the best to work with on hunting related business. Biggest delays I’ve ever had were due to the agents wanting to hear about my hunt.

I have recently imported a leopard from Zim. Honestly, it was very easy. I filled out the application on my lunch break, mailed $100 to Virginia, and received the permit in the mail from USFWS approximately a month later. Turkish is not the only airline that will ship. In fact, Turkish will not ship if the shipment moves through South Africa. Mine came Ethiopian Airlines without a hitch. I do not get on here often. In fact, this is my first post but Bama15 and/or SCLawyer know how to get in touch with me if anyone has any questions.