Rivers pleaded guilty in August, admitting that he sold two black leopards to a buyer in Illinois in 1998 through an animal dealer in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for $750 each. He also admitted to falsifying federal documents to indicate the sale of the leopards was a donation. In addition, Rivers admitted to being involved in the illegal sale of an endangered Bengal tiger to the same Cape Girardeau animal dealer. Following the sale of the tiger, Rivers again falsified documents to indicate the sale was a donation. The tiger was transported from Florida to Missouri and then on to Illinois where it was killed four days later.
In sentencing Rivers, Webber said, "This is very troubling, because animals that are protected around the world -- as beautiful as they were when they were alive -- it seems they are more valuable when they are dead."
Rivers was among five people indicted in St. Louis in November 2001 following a lengthy undercover investigation -- "Operation Snow Plow" -- by special agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agents, working closely with the U.S. Attorneys offices in Missouri, Illinois, and Michigan, uncovered a group of residents and small business owners in the Midwest that allegedly bought and killed tigers, leopards, lions, mountain lions, cougars and other exotic animals with the intention of selling the meat skins and other parts in the lucrative animal parts trade.
Rivers was also ordered to pay $2,500 to the Save the Tiger Fund, a conservation fund administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Fines collected from other "Operation Snow Plow" defendants also have been directed by the court to the Save the Tiger Fund. To date, approximately $90,000 has been awarded, and the Save the Tiger Fund has earmarked about $30,000 for projects in Thailand and Russia for training rangers and other measures aimed at stopping the poaching of tigers.
Tigers are listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. The law also protects leopards, which are classified as either endangered or threatened depending on the location of the wild population. Although federal regulations allow possession of captive-bred tigers, the regulations require that activities involving their use must be to enhance the propagation or survival of the species. It is unlawful to kill the animals for profit, or to sell their hides, parts or meat in interstate commerce.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95 million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses nearly 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
For further information about programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, visit our website at http://midwest.fws.gov
