Avoid Trophy Seizure - US Fish & Wildlife Services Starts Zero Tolerance Policy

US Fish & Wildlife Services (USFWS) Starts Zero Tolerance Policy - How You Can Avoid Trophy Seizures

US Fish & Wildlife Services (USFWS) has begun to implement a zero tolerance policy on trophy shipments with any errors or omissions on import / export documentation, no matter how innocent it might be. Where the service previously allowed hunters to return their shipment to the exporting country for re-import with correct documents, agents are now moving forward with seizures. This information comes from John Jackson, III of Conservation Force.

Once the trophy shipment has been seized, those trophies are considered contraband, which by definition is illegal to possess. The hunter is stripped of all protection of property and has no hope of reclaiming his trophies.

To help hunters avoid such situation, John Jackson, III of Conservation Force, has created a Trophy Problem Checklist For Importation To The US (see attached document). This list will need to be updated from time to time though for now it will help all hunters, safari operators and import / export agents and shipping brokers catch and fix problems before importation to the US. Make sure they understand the urgency of this matter. This year alone, US Fish & Wildlife has detained and seized or forced forfeiture of hundreds of trophies worth millions of dollars. Don't be one of these statistics, act now before your trophy ships!

Jerome, thanks for the heads up. Also, for the attachment, it will help me make sure I have all my i's dotted and t's crossed before my first hunt in Africa.

Jerome THANKS this is good to know as I am going on my first South African hunt in June and I don't want anything to screw up my once in a life time dream. Bob Puckett

..I personally think that's not a great policy as I'm not in control of my animals being shipped to me. The Taxidermist & the shipper are the main characters in this process & It should not be my fault if an error is made on their behalf!! I'm not filling out the paperwork and processing the permits. This could become a big problem in the future!