The newest animals at the Sedgwick County Zoo are dead, but helped catch a criminal
Illegal tiger pelts used in a wildlife-trafficking sting operation have been donated to the Sedgwick County and Topeka zoos, where they’ll be used to educate children about endangered species.
The pelts came from a federal repository of illegal animal parts and were used to catch and prosecute Ret Thach of Wichita, who had agreed to pay undercover officers $8,000 for two tiger skins, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
In addition to recovering the tiger pelts, investigators also seized a lion pelt from Thach’s home when they arrested him. He was sentenced in October to a year of probation and a $100 court assessment.
After Thach pleaded guilty, the pelts weren’t needed as evidence anymore and could be donated for educational purposes, McAllister said in a statement.
The Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita got two tiger pelts and the lion skin that was seized. The Topeka Zoo got a single tiger pelt that was a spare, said Jim Cross, a spokeman for the U.S. Attorney’s office.
“Poachers, wildlife smugglers and black market merchants are stealing our last chance to protect and preserve creatures of awesome strength and beauty,” McAllister said. “Once these animals go, they will be gone forever. They are a precious natural resource that the federal government protects, including by criminal prosecution of illegal traffickers.”
The laws against poaching endangered species also make it illegal to purchase or possess the hides, tusks, teeth, horns or other parts of the animals, except under strictly controlled circumstances.
But a black market in illegal animal parts persists.
The U.S. attorney’s office has also investigated Kansas cases of deer and elk poaching by guides and hunters and the illegal importation of Asian leopard kittens, McAllister said.
Jennica King, marketing manager for the Sedgwick County Zoo, said the pelts have been turned over to the zoo’s education department, which has a variety of endangered animal parts that it uses for presentations.
For example, buying and selling elephant ivory is almost completely banned in the United States under a 2016 law to help protect elephants in the wild.
But the zoo has tusks and on World Elephant Day, Aug. 12, educators bring them out so people can touch them and learn about the dangers to the animals from poachers, King said.
The newly acquired pelts will be used in a similar fashion, King said.
One of the pelts was fitted by a taxidermist with plastic teeth, lips and tongue to simulate it roaring. King said the zoo’s standard practice is to remove the head before using a pelt in educational programs.
This story was originally published May 24, 2019 at 3:21 PM.
