I just heard from a broker friend out in California that in Namibia, for "mounted trophies" the typical cost for "packing" by most major taxidermists is 15% of the invoice/order value. For instance, if the total taxidermy work is $5,000, the packing cost will be $750.

This seems quite high and I wondered if anyone had any further details?

Best regards
Mike Ohlmann

I can tell you for D&S in Namibia last year I paid $423.00 for a warthog, zebra, oryx and kudu (I elected to have Mr Spots held there due CITIES and now with the lastest troubles of improper shipping tags am glad I did).The packing and air frieght just cost me another $1004.00 to Newark, NJ from Windhoek.
This is about the norm as far as I know.

I haven't hunted Namibia yet, but my my cost for dip and pack in SA was $100 per animal. I knew that upfront. The airfrieght to the US almost made me ill (almost $3,000). The container was fairly large as my family took 24 animals on the safari. It might be worth looking into what sea freight would run. Good luck.

Dip and pack is one thing and as far as I know is fairly standard and includes; treating, packing and paperwork. Air freight on African hides and horns is generally based more upon size of the crate than on weight since the horns and hides are large (bulky) vs heavy and take up extra space on aircraft.

The thing that I am looking into is simply building a crate for mounted animals.

According to the 15% rate; and lesser expensive taxidermy rates; a lifesize duiker, ls baboon, an impala and heyena shoulder mount, and a leopard rug would cost $680 to build a crate.