A few years back, porcupine and some of the other rodents were not allowed into the US. Anyone know for sure if that's still the case?

Also, has the status of brown hyena changed? Seems like Boddington just recently wrote that he shot one and reminded folks to get the proper permits first. I didn't think there was a proper permit to get browns into the US. I have 4 permits for them this year, but I'll probably have to sell them to Europeans, even though I get Americans drooling over them every time we see them.

I read this post a few times now and am still not sure I ubderstand something.

Did you mean to say that RSA has issued you four permits to shoot Brown Hyena? They were huntable with special nature conservation permits up til about two years ago. That changed and now they are protected. The reason being it was determined they are non-predatory on any speices of big game. I'm certainly not convinced of that myself especially when the impalas are being born.

The USA will only allow easy importing, for non-CITES. If it is a CITES Animal it must have a "Hunting" permit. If the permits were issued to you for the Brown Hyena for damage control, or depredation then it would explain why they would not be able to come into the USA. Leopard permits are issued rater easily for Depredation. However you will nolonger get one of them into the USA because it was not a sport hunted animal.

I'm not an expert here and these things change so frequently in both RSA and USA that I usually consult with a fellow that is an expert on these matters for the Museum in Cape Town. This is what I knew/ thought was true over the last year.

The animals connected with SARS and Monkeypox scare a couple of years ago can now be imported. They require a Veterinary Certificate stating exactly what was done to render the animals non-infectious. This form along with copies of the shipping documents must be submitted to U.S. Department of Public Health. Once they sign off on the freight bill copies you can then go to Fish and Wildlife to make entry. Upon receipt of FWS release you can then proceed to Customs to clear the trophies.

Brown Hyenas may not be imported into the US as FWS Office of Management Authority will never issue a US Cites Import permit.