Swiss man orders elephant foot as trophy
A Swiss man has ordered an elephant foot as a trophy. The case reveals the dark depths of the trophy trade and recreational hunting in Africa.
At the beginning of February this year, customs officials at the Weil am Rhein customs office seized a genuine elephant foot that had been converted into a container, found inside a postal package.
The parcel had been sent from England and was destined for a recipient in Switzerland, who had arranged for it to be delivered to a German collection address. Customs clearance was therefore carried out at the Weil am Rhein customs office.
An expert assessment confirmed that the item was the foot of an African elephant. Under the Federal Nature Conservation Act, elephants are a strictly protected species that remains severely endangered due to ivory hunting, and their commercialisation is fundamentally prohibited. The recipient was unable to produce the documents required for importing the tasteless item.
Further processing falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.
