Texas Biologist Convicted of Wildlife Trafficking
A Texas biologist was sentenced to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine for the illegal import of protected wildlife.
Six Months in Prison
A federal judge in Amarillo sentenced Dr. Richard Kazmaier, 55, in January 2023 to six months in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $5,000.
Kazmaier pleaded guilty on 19 August 2022 to a felony under the Lacey Act for having imported protected wildlife into the United States without declaring them or obtaining the required permits.
358 Wildlife Items Purchased via eBay
Kazmaier admitted to having imported wildlife from Bulgaria, China, Indonesia, Canada, Latvia, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay into Texas between March 2013 and February 2020. He purchased primarily skulls, skeletons, and taxidermy specimens with a total market value of $14,423.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) regulates trade in endangered or threatened species. Kazmaier admitted to having imported 14 protected species without permits, including the European otter, the lynx, the caracal, and the bird-of-paradise. More on the topic of crime and hunting as well as species protection.
| You can help all animals and our planet with compassion. Choose compassion on your plate and in your glass. Go vegan. |
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In our dossiers on recreational hunting gather fact-checks, analyses and background reports. The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
