I shot a nice 172# leopard in Zim in May of 2006. The mount was done in South Africa and was shipped to Fauna & Flora Customhouse in NY.

A few hours ago Fauna & Flora called and asked for my import permit. I responded "..that was taken care of in South Africa." I soon learned I was wrong. No African or Fauna & Flora contacts informed me of the need of the permit. Being a very stupid first time hunter I did not know of the need for the permit.

Now I am told the mount may be taken by the U S Govt.

My question is, how can I legally end up with "my" cat? Does it help to apply for the permit now? Will I need an attorney to help correct this problem? If so, any good names?

Thanks,

Howard.

Go here:
http://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-19.pdf

call the number. explain the problem. fill out the form anyway. send the money. all ASAP. good luck.

Anybody want to chime in here on why you should use an African Taxidermist?

This is where you insert the cricket noises.


Sorry about your misfortunes. I really do hope you recover your hard earned and expensive trophy. I would suggest using a US taxidermy company next time.

It is the responsibility of the hunter to obtain the import permit. Howard did not know of or investigate the need for the import permit.

The export permits are handled by the PH/outfitter, the game dept., and the taxidermists, and it appears that everything was done correctly on the African side.

George

get hold of fish and game asap , i know that they have a backlog but may speed things up if you explain to them what has transpired ,

the cites permit for import is the responsibility of the hunter ...your agent should have made you aware of this , get with your booking agent and see if he has any point of contact with fish and game ....

at least the taxidermy was cheaper huh

I don't think a lawyer can help you here.

My leopard permit took about 2 months to process, so your key issue is trying to get FWS to hold off long enough to give you time to get the permit.

I think you will have to try to work with the FWS and Flora and Fauna to try to get them to hold it for you while the permit is processes. You may want to think twice before you tell FWS that you don't have a CITES permit. In dealing with them before, they are under the mistaken impression that you need a permit before you hunt, which is not correct. They may think you shot it illegally and be more keen on seizing it.

I ended up calling FWS a couple of times, once it was an unfriendly person, and the next time it was a quite helpful person.

Is the trophy in customs or FWS holding area? Get F&F to help out here, they can do a lot to get customs etc. to store it for you.

I used Life Form Taxidermy, and they needed my CITES permit in hand (albeit a copy) before they could obtain a South African export permit (at least that is what they told me). BTW you will need a color copy of the African permit for the leopard to include in your CITES application. Get on that asap. Does your outfitter still have the permit? Is it at the taxidermist? Who did you use in RSA to do the taxidermy?

So how could your taxidermist export it with proof of your CITES?

Good luck and jump right on this

smarterthanu: not trying to disagree with you but for a leopard, I think one needs a taxidermist (or someone) to sort out the export permit to even get the leopard here to be worked on (see above re Life Form requiring a copy of my CITES for their export permit). I am really at a loss here because so many dropped the ball...

From what I understand your Leopard will probably be confiscated. But I think you will be able to get it back, and it could possibly be very costly. This is info that was given to me by a representative of ABX logistics. George is right and to add to that, import CITES permit must be in the customs broker's hand when the Leopard arrives.

I've an email in to the Nico van Rooyen shop. I will be speaking with the outfitter in person here in WY tonight.

George is correct. The African info was in order (I think). I'm the one who was unaware of the requirement.

It sounds like I'm going to be at the mercy of a U S Fish and Wildlife employee in the NYC area. Hope they are better natured than the people I met when I did a couple slum vehicle repos in the Bronx!

First of all, let me say that Fauna and Flora are the best. John Meehan will do what it takes to take care of you. Secondly, I had a buddy that shot a sitatunga in Tanzania and didn't know that he needed a permit. It came to the US and got "confiscated" but he eventually got the paperwork figured out and he has it in his trophy room.

I shot a leopard in Zim in June 2006 and it's still sitting there completely mounted. I just had to reapply for the import CITES permit, and hope that it will be issued before the cat arrives.

In short, I think you'll be okay, though that is based on the experience of others and not science.

Smarterthanu: The situation would certainly be no different, and possibly worse, with a US taxidermist. In my experience, US taxidermists do not get involved until the crate hits their doorstep. I'm not trying to reopen wounds or weigh in on the US versus African taxidermy debate (as I have always used African, but will likely have this year's bag shipped to the US), but I think it's a bit persumptive for you to think a US taxidermist would have fixed this problem!

Wow, this situation is hard to believe. Sorry for your loss. As you have said, it is ultimately the hunters resposibility. However, it is amazing to me that the CITES import permit issue was never brought to your attention by the booking agent/outfitter, PH, Taxidermist, other hunters, etc.. Good luck and let us know the outcome.

That's what a Hunting Consultant does. My check list can be boring to some, but I'd rather be boring than to allow something like this to slip by. Visit the USF&W web site. Get the correct department number and give them a call. Their backlog is due to budget cuts, so now one person (female) handles the job of six previous employees. Once you have the phone number...stop! Your next move is to call John at Fauna & Flora. As mentioned, John is THE MAN. Ask his advise on how to approach the F&W personel. Then you will be ready to call them and proceed with your CITES application. Send your funds ($100) along with your application via Priority Mail or Overnight and expect a 2-6 month wait unless they expedite your request. Best of luck with your problem but John is a good guy and will be as helpful as possible.
LDK

2 years ago my leopard was finished in RSA and scheduled to be to shipped in 3 days. my US Cites permit would expire ONE DAY after shipment arrival here. called USFWS and asked if being only 1 day late would be a problem. i was assured that my trophies would be conficated and there was a high likelihood i would not get them back. called the taxidermist in RSA and delayed shipment for 3 MONTHS until my renewed permit arrived. as an aside, this problem is not the fault of the African taxidermist!!! there are a lot of people who dropped the ball here, starting with the hunter. i find it difficult to believe that Fauna and Flora didn't catch this snafu way before the shipment got here.

j,

When I arranged the shipment with John Meehan he said nothing of the need for a permit. He probably assumed I was aware of the need. After completing all the paperwork before and after the hunt I thought I was in good shape.

Despite not having been informed of the need of the permit, the fault still falls on me - -painfully.

Howdy,

Maybe taxidermists elsewhere in the nation (USA) are completely apathetic about whether the animals get back to the states, but every taxidermist I know would have told this man he has to apply for CITES to get his critter in the gates. No, it is not thier "job" to make sure his animals get here, but the ones I know have enough intellegence mixed with decent human nature to help a an ill informed hunter.

Now, to elaborate on my point earlier. If the leopard becomes forever lost, what recourse with this SA company does this man have? When things go wrong in your home country plans can be made for legal and fiscal retribution. When it happens seven thousand miles away the best we can do is talk about it on an internet forum.

Man, who is to blame most? The hunter of course, but the outfitter should have said something, like having a copy of the permit before it went to SA. The Taxidermist should have had a copy before he shiopped it. Etc.

I don't see how the customs expeditor (F&F) could be at fault. They just receive shipments, which should have had a copy of the CITES permit with the shipment.

This one really slipped through the cracks. Hope you get it eventually.

Your leopard has probably already been seized by USF&W. I’m sure you are not the first person this has happened to and it can probably be cleared up without too much hassle.

I would follow L. David Keith’s advice and contact Fauna & Flora Custom’s House before calling USF&W and ask them how to precede. Try and get the name of a specific person to call at USF&W and their extension number or you are going to spend a lot of time on the phone.

I had a leopard hide seized at customs last year because the permanent tag the Namibian government had been using for the past 20 years did not meet USF&W’s new requirements. I had to get a letter from the Namibian government stating the leopard was legally taken and shipped. Then I filed a petition with USF&W for its return. A few months later the petition was approved and the leopard hide was released.

When you fill out the CITES permit application be VERY careful to get all the information on the application correct. It takes 4 – 6 months to process. Any mistakes or inconsistencies with the African export permit and you’ll have to do it all over again.

Good luck.

I might be able to help you get the cites sooner send me an email please

Thomas Powers
Shipping Consultant
Booking Consultant
powersint@aol.com

Thanks everyone for the input. Spoke to a # of "officials" today and should have an answer by next week. It doesn't sound promising.

I had a similar situation happen 4 years ago. Had taken a Leopard, Kudu, Zebra, Warthog, and Impala in Zimbabwe in 2002. I filed for the Cites permit before I left the US so I could bring it along just in case I took a Leopard. Well I did, but the problem was it took 16 months to get the animals imported from there to here and my Cites had expired. To my ignorance I did not know the Cites expired after a year. I was informed by the USFW that my Leopard had been confiscated due to the expired Cites. I was given the direct line to the head of the USFW in Washington DC. He was friendly at first but after he got tired of me begging to release the Leopard he finally ended the conversation by telling me you ship the Leopard back to Africa and apply for a new Cites or let the USFW keep the hide because bottom line it was an illegal animal in the US. I shipped it back and got the paperwork re-done and was fortunate enough to get the Leopard back 8 months later. I think I ended up being very lucky having the option of returning the cat to Africa and still getting it back. The exporter in SA admitted it was their error and stated they should have never shipped with the expired cites and covered all my expenses.

Sounds like more of a political problem now. Perhaps your Rep or Senator could help. I doubt it could hurt at this point.

Hope it works out for you!

rutten,

Do you remember the shipper's name?

WY - I was able to pull up some old emails and this is the only contact information I have. I am sure I have more information in the actual paperwork I keep locked up in my gun safe if anybody needs more info.

Wendy Hutchens of Cargo Services. I do not remember if she is in Zim or South Africa.

Thanks.