Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Go lion hunting now???

I'll be heading over in May for a 14 day hunt with my wife and a hunting partner. We'll be going after lion in one area and then travelling to another area for kudu, waterbuck, zebra, blue wildebeest, nyala, gemsbuck and perhaps a few other critters.

The recent 90-day listing by the USFWS was a bit of an eye-opener and I�ve noticed online discussions on this issue popping up on the internet.

Which begs the question...What happens if the powers that be decide to list them as "protected" or "endangered" before, during, or shortly after our hunt? Given how slow bureaucracies can move, is it even remotely possible that I would encounter a problem getting one back home through US Customs?

Obviously, we won�t be hunting lions if they are listed before we go. I would still want to go, but I�d expect our outfitter to honor our monetary arrangement and pony up some other nice critters.

On the other hand, I�d have to chalk it up as galactically [bleep] timing if a prohibitive listing occurred anytime between the hunt and successfully get the skull and hide back through U.S. customs to my taxidermist (think: polar bear).

Should I be at all concerned about this happening between now and July? I'd rather go sheep hunting if that's the case.

Allen

If "hunting", worry about a lion making it to your home afterward.
If "shopping", spend the same money on a sheep hunt. (You can always get a lion rug later on when your legs/ankles won't handle mountains anymore.)

2 cents there

Get your CITIES permit now and don't worry.

CITES permit for lion is non applicable.

Lions do not require a CITIEs permit like elephant and leopard.

I know what a CITES permit is, but what is this CITIES permit you all speak of?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Allen

That is funny. I did it also.

You have to have a CITIES permit to import to New York, Las Angeles, or any metropolitan area.

CITES permits are good in most other places.

A CITES tag is required for all animals listed as CITES 1 animals. These include leopard, elephant, black rhino, cheetah, all primates and black foot cat(call me a liar on the last one).

A lion requires a tag from the Provincial authority in the province the hunt is scheduled for. In the Free State there are only two properties that comply with the regulations as set out by the F&W department, ie, there are only two properties where you can legally hunt lion. In the Free State you also have to have a member of the F&W dept tag along for the hunt to make sure it is not a canned hunt.

The tag issued by any provincial F&W department in South Africa does not override any legislation from a foreign country. This means that even if you do a legal hunt here with all the required tags in place and your F&W dept decided to list lions as endangered you would still not be able to import your trophy to the US.

However, if you have hunted your trophy prior to the date of the ban becoming effective and the trophy is still at the taxidermist then you will be able to import your trophy.

This applies to the following African game animals that can no longer be imported to the US: cheetah, scimitar oryx and brown hyena along with some others. I am sure you know more about the oryx now not being huntable anymore.

Thank you Pieter.

We will be well north of Free State in the Limpopo.