Stuff this sarge, I can see how you earned your stripes

Call of the wild: officers from the Met’s wildlife crime unit remove the tiger from the Mayfair gallery. It was used in a photo-shoot by the late designer Alexander McQueen for Puma trainers
12 April 2012

This is the moment that police stepped in to seize a tiger in London suspected of being on sale illegally.

Thankfully for Detective Sergeant Ian Knox, the head of Scotland Yard's wildlife crime unit, the animal was stuffed and on display at a Mayfair gallery.

The owner, a 47-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of breaching regulations surrounding the sale of endangered species.

The tiger, which was once used by the late designer Alexander McQueen in a photo-shoot for Puma trainers, has been impounded.

Its owner was questioned at a south London police station before being released on bail pending further inquiries. His home was also searched.
Detectives are examining the history of the tiger, which is believed to have been killed and stuffed within the last 20 years.

The animal was on display at the SHOWstudio in Bruton Place after being put up for sale following McQueen's death.

The gallery is understood to have acted in good faith. Police say that while it is possible for stuffed tigers to be legally sold in the UK, it is believed this example was offered without sufficient documentation to verify its origin.

A Yard spokesman said that without that paperwork any potential transaction would contravene the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species.

Detective Sergeant Knox said: "In order to discourage the trade in rare animals and related items, it is crucial that regulations surrounding their sale are strictly enforced.

"Where an item is suspected of breaching the Cites regulations, designed to protect our planet's most endangered flora and fauna, we will take the appropriate action to establish its origin and, when necessary, seize it as evidence.

"Anyone who wishes to trade in endangered species can find the information they need to do so lawfully on the Defra website at www.defra.gov.uk/animalhealth/cites."

The World Wildlife Fund estimates that there are as few as 3,200 tigers left in the wild.

Tiger numbers have fallen by 95 per cent in the past 100 years.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in