AN ELEPHANT skull, a rhino’s foot, a turtle shell, a resin-coated pipistrelle, and a bag made of an iguana.
These are just some of the items Warwickshire Police has seized under wildlife protection laws like CITES – the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
They were seized during investigations into both antique shops and private collections.
The elephant skull, which had been part of an entire elephant skeleton, was seized when the owner tried to have it tied together as a full taxidermy model.
The skull was accompanied by a large haul of other CITES-banned products and taxidermies of other African Big Five animals which were being used commercially without valid importation paperwork or certificates.
The force is making every effort to repurpose these seized products for crime education, or to give them to universities for research purposes.
The team are currently in discussions with experts at the University of Bristol to take the elephant skull as an educational and research piece.
Ivory in particular has strict laws around both its sale and its purchase. Under the Ivory Act 2018, it is prohibited not only to sell, but also to purchase or advertise any product containing ivory, with some exemptions for antiques (although those looking to sell on antique ivory products will need to have the proper certificates to do so legally).
Not all of the seized items are exotic in origin – Warwickshire Police’s current storage includes a whole pipistrelle bat which had been encased in resin and a badger rug.
Pipistrelles and badgers aren’t protected under CITES but are protected under other wildlife laws in the UK.
A police spokesperson said: “The aim of all of this is to protect wildlife both in the UK and abroad, making it as difficult as possible for criminals to profit from the death of endangered or at-risk animals and plants, preserving them for the next generation and helping keep their environments in balance.”
