Guilty, conservationist who attempted to sell tiger’s head on Gumtree
£1,000 fine after police raid unearthed illegal trade
A CONSERVATION biologist was yesterday told his career was over after being convicted of trying to sell a tiger’s head.
Richard Wales, once the director of a scheme protecting animals in Africa, had his home raided after advertising animal parts on the internet.
A sheriff yesterday told the 49-year-old his chances of finding a similar job were ‘nil’ as he fined him £1,000.
Wales, a first offender, pleaded guilty to four charges of breaching regulations designed to protect endangered species from illegal trade.
Depute fiscal Fiona Caldwell told Jedburgh Sheriff Court the tiger’s head, valued at £3,200, had been removed from a rug which dated back to the 1930s. It was identified by an expert from the Animal and Plant Health Agency as the same one seen in an advert placed on trading website Gumtree by Wales.
Police who raided his home in Newton St Boswells, Roxburghshire, in September 2015, found it hanging on the wall mounted on a wooden shield. It was later forfeited.
Miss Caldwell added that Wales also advertised three tiger claws for £120, a large tiger claw from the 1930s at £55 and an Indian leopard claw from 1937 at £20 on his online account.
She said the claws could not be sold without a licence from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Defence solicitor Robert More said Wales had been a conservation biologist and moved to Kenya in 2010 to work for a conservation project but on his return home in 2012 he had been unable to find similar work. Instead, he set up an antiques dealership, mainly selling swords, earning £600 a month.
Mr More said the animal parts came from rugs dating from the 19th or early 20th century, adding: ‘It would be easy to come to the conclusion this involves someone involved in hunting or poaching but nothing could be further from the truth. He is a conservation biologist and has spent his entire working life in that field.’
He said Wales no longer has anything to do with taxidermy.
Sheriff Peter Paterson fined Wales £250 for each charge. He told him: ‘It is manifestly obvious that this is a very unusual offence and one that does not come before the courts very often, if ever. It is an odd position that someone involved in the conservation field is selling these items. To me that would appear a contradiction.
‘I don’t doubt that the effect of this prosecution means that gaining employment in the conservation field now are nil.’
Sheriff Paterson said he took into account the animal parts were very old, but added that it still fed a market which should not be there.
After the hearing, assistant procurator fiscal Laura Buchan, from the Crown Office specialist wildlife crime unit, said: ‘This illegal trade has a harmful effect on the conservation status of tigers and contributes to their decline in the wild.
‘It is vitally important those in the antiques trade fully understand the legislation as well as take seriously their obligations in respect of the trade in items from endangered species.’
Wales, a former Red Squirrel Conservation Officer for the South of Scotland, declined to comment after the hearing.
‘Contributes to their decline in the wild’