How far in advance of a trip should you begin the process of getting the necessary CITES permits needed for a lion hunt?

Spring,

No CITES import needed for the US. If an export permit is required from the African country, that is up to your outfitter to get (if needed).

Regards,

Terry

Thanks, Terry. Guess I'll have to find something else to do in advance of my trip. I'm ready to get ready!

Are you going after leopard, elephant (except for elephant from Namibia, Botswana, RSA or ZIM), Namibian southern white rhino or bontebok? If so, then you will need a CITES import permit for those species. It's amazing to me that leopard are CITES I when there are so many of them compared to lions. But I guess you never see a rich woman wearing a lion skin coat.



Regards,



Terry

There are two kinds of CITES permits. One for the IMPORT of the trophy into the US and this is the responsibility of the hunter to acquire. The other is an EXPORT permit that the outfitter must get from the country where the animal was hunted.



Right now, the only animals that require the hunter to get an Import Permit is for Leopard (from any country). Elephant (except for Elephant from BOT, NAM, RSA or ZIM - the US governmet has made the decision that the populations of elephant in those 4 countries is sufficiently regulated so that no Import Permits are required). If you are hunting elephant in Tanzania for example, you need an Import Permit. Bontebok. Namibian Southern White Rhino (this is new to me, but the Permit Application Form lists the Nambian Southern White Rhino).







Permits





Permit Form





Importing Leopard



Regards,



Terry

Vic,

You need to apply for a CITES permit for the leopard. I have received them in the past within 6 weeks or so. Leave the original permit at home and give it to your Customs broker once your trophies are ready for clearance. Take a copy of the permit to your outfitter for his files. He'll need a copy to get an export permit.

Yes, Terry, I'll be hunting a leopard, too. Like a lion, I presume it will again be up to my outfitter to handle the CITES paperwork.
Leopards do indeed seem so much more common than lions. When you also consider the overpopulation of elephants in many areas and that their numbers have basically doubled over the past 10 years, it does become rather evident that the realities of game populations and their risk exposure to the safari industry is as much of a function of emotions and misinformation as statistics and verifiable data.