Three of us are going to Zambia in July. I am getting conficting information about shipping trophies back to the U. S. The big questions is ; CAN the trophies of all three hunters be in the same crate so long as they are properly tagged with each hunters individual information and if a seperate manifest is included for each hunter? The people at Copper Smith tell me that each hunters trophies must be packed seperately., but it seems that some where (maybe in RENO) that this was not the case.

Thanks for everyone's valuable input.

H Kittle

I have used Coppersmith twice and they seem to know what they are doing. You may want to call Flora and Fauna to see what they tell you.

I was suprised the cost to ship stuff back. Next time, I am bringing home pictures.

Hartley,

We were told by our broker ( Hunter International www.http://www.hunter-international.net/index.html )in no uncertain terms that each hunters trophies had to be packed and shipped seperately. This was confirmed by our outfitter whose family is also in the export business in Lusaka.

I have used Hunter International three times and highly recommend them. Maria will be on it like a dog on a bone. She's good.

You might contact Jerry Huffaker on this forum. He handled all my animals from Zambia. He has a great deal of experience and is one Heck of a good taxidermist. Not kin to him.

sprig

WE consolidated our crate from South Africa. At first we were told no. But with further checking at both ends it worked.
Remember we are talking about regulations in at least two country’s our shipment cleared Christmas 2006



Six Hunters


Crate


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QUOTE
“You might contact Jerry Huffaker on this forum. He handled all my animals from Zambia. He has a great deal of experience and is one Heck of a good taxidermist. “
Good Advice.

Doyle

That's my understanding after talking with Coppersmith as well. They have worked several shipments for me and have no reason to not believe what they are saying. This "one crate for each person" is a US Customs requirement and I belive it went into effect a year or so ago? I really don't know how much additional cost this presents as everthing is geared pretty much to poundage for the airfreight cost. Three crates at 100# each or one crate at 300#?? I'll be facing the same thing later this year when three of us send things back from Namibia. Good luck.

Larry Sellers

Legally they are meant to be be done (totally separate)

The logistics goes something like this:

Each hunter will have a number of animals which he/she will hunt, the PH will duly need to include on his the form which he has to complete the name of the hunter and specific animals taken. Then the taxidermist in Lusaka will need to pack and complete necessary vet permits and other export paper work as required in each hunters own name and then pack this separately in individual crates.

I think you might be playing with fire if you or your taxidermsit in Lusaka try to circumvent the rules .....

The only way to get the (latest updated information) is to contact the taxidermist whom your outfitter will be using in Lusaka and ask them as you know the rules change in Africa more often than you and I change our shirts

There are not that many taxidermsits in Lusaka whom do this export work. At last count I think it was only half a dozen or less of those whom are bona fide ones

Cheers, Peter

Ok... here's the voice of experiance.. I hunted the Kosonso with Ray Milligan (rat bastard)Lion Heart Safaris. to top off a totaly f-uped safari. He shipped all our trophies in one crate.. My buddies trophies included Bush Pig, Ray bless his heart didn't get vet certs or docs to clear for this animal.. You can guess what happened next.. Yep, F&G wants to destroy the crate.. I begged, cried and pleaded for a way out .. Finaly they came up with a solution.. I had to ship back to Lusaka and have it re-packed and proper certs.. Guess what.?.. Lusaka won't let it in cause it has un-certified swine carcass.. Well to make a long story short, good ole Ray (did I mention he's a rat bastard?)was no where to be found.. Contacted Mike Heath and he cleared up the whole mess in the traditional African way minus the bushpig. Second trip around with new Docs & certs, Thanks again to Mr. Heath, all went well.. And to top it off, he refused any type of compensation..

Two of us hunted RSA last year and had our trophies, skulls and horns only, for European mounts, shipped to our taxidermist here in Canada, with no problems whatsoever. But that was RSA, not Zambia; and Canada, not USA so probably doesn't mean squat in your case.

It is strictly a USA customs/ F&G requirement. It does not apply to anyone outside the states. It went into affect roughly 2 years ago. I suppose someone in Washington decided this makes us all safer. I personally think all it did was to increase rates. It probably makes the inspectors jobs easier somehow because it certainly dosn't benefit anyone else except the shipping and brokerage companies.

h kittle

dogcat gives good advice.

Please contact JJ Meehan at Fauna and Flora.

While it has been almost a year since we discussed this issue - separate crates were NOT required at that point [contrary to the prevailing AR opinion at the time]. I would certainly get his opinion before being pushed into this by Coppersmith.

Lannette Lilley at ABX logistics in Houston just told me that the trophies can be consolidated but the paper work for each individual hunter must accompany the shipment. On another thought though, if there are 2 or three hunters going to Zambia for buff and plains game they won't be able to get it all in one crate any way.