The urgent problem with CAR CITES-listed trophies arose because CAR has not "provided adequate justification for their failure to submit CITES annual reports for three consecutive years." That quote is from a recent Public Bulletin issued jointly by the US Fish and Wildlife Service office of Law Enforcement and the Division of Management Authority. We contacted both offices and have determined that bongo is indeed a CITES-listed species, as are various duikers, including the bay duiker, Jentinks duiker, blue duiker, Ogilby's duiker, yellow back duiker and zebra banded duiker.
The actions the US Fish and Wildlife Service may take, should any of these species arrive at Port of Entry from CAR, include possible forcible re-export or forfeiture. The latter is an action that usually results in the government taking possession of a trophy.
Here at The Hunting Report we have contacted operators in CAR and put them in touch with Conservation Force's John J. Jackson, III, who has outlined to them the steps CAR must take to have the ban lifted. The filing of the paperwork is a simple matter, Jackson says, and the ban could be lifted in "a matter of weeks" if CAR takes the necessary actions.
If you are affected by this ban, and you are not an E-Mail Extra subscriber on the list to receive news bulletins, call us at 305-670-1361 for the latest news. Or go to our web site. We'll post what we learn there as soon as we receive it.
(Postscript: If you hunted bongo or any of the duikers listed above in Cameroon, or any other country except CAR, your trophies are not affected. This is a country-specific ban imposed only on CAR. For the record... we are indebted to Carol Rutowski of Coppersmith for early word........(continued)
