I copied the following from a newsletter that NAPHA has circulated to all members, regarding the current issue about US Fish and Wildlife confiscating leopard trophies from Namibia because of "the wrong tag." Hope this put at least some minds at ease.

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.