On Monday, a New York man pled guilty to selling a mounted African leopard (Panthera pardus) in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The two-page criminal information filed against the defendant last September stated that in November 2019 he sold the leopard, an animal listed on the ESA’s list of threatened and endangered species.
According to the Department of Justice’s press release, an undercover U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent inquired about buying the trophy from the defendant after he posted a photograph on his Instagram account featuring the mounted leopard in the background. Reportedly, the defendant asked for $4,200 in exchange for the leopard. In the course of their online communications, the pair reportedly discussed the illegality of buying and selling a leopard across state lines.
Once a deal had been reached, the special agent reportedly traveled from Ohio to New York to see the mounted animal and make a down payment on it. According to the press release, the defendant subsequently accepted the remainder of the payment and shipped the leopard from New York to Ohio.
Earlier this week, the defendant pled guilty to one count of violating the ESA for unlawfully selling the protected animal before U.S. Magistrate Judge Chelsey M. Vascura. The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Ohio and the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division are prosecuting the case.
