Leopard Hunting in Namibia

We recently heard from The Hunting Report that some leopard trophies being imported to the USA from Namibia were confiscated because they were tagged incorrectly. We contacted the Namibia Professional Hunters Association and they put out the following statement today:

LEOPARD TAGS FOR CITES

"A number of NAPHA members have forwarded the office information released by separate sources pertaining to the apparent use of incorrect identification tags used for CITES purposes on leopard trophies being exported. This has caused a certain amount of panic. We would hereby like to clarify the situation.

It came to the fore that US Fish and Wildlife had confiscated two separate leopard skins exported by Namibia due to the apparent use of incorrect identification tags.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism has been making use of the current tagging system for the past fifteen 15 years. Those leopards exported with the old tags will still be accepted. MET has now submitted a new tag for approval by US Fish and Wildlife.
In the event of your clients leopard trophy being confiscated during the interim period, please advise MET Elly Hamunyela immediately to assist you with the issue."

The folks at NAPHA are very organized and usually get on top of things like this very quickly. I expect they will have the problem solved completely as the African hunting seasons are getting into full swing now.