That's the whole story. Nothing overly dramatic.

 

Someone read a press interview I did back in the 1990s in which I mentioned being offered a breeding pair of leopards for £1,500 and asked about it.  

Well, it was around 1997/1998 (I really do not want to get my log books out of storage for an exact date) and a gentleman with an Indian accent got in contact by telephone and offered me a breeding pair of black leopards.  It seems that a miss-read article from the press (I believe the Guardian) had him thinking I was looking to breed or keep black leopards).

The deal was simple; the Indian government would take the cost of transporting the animals and once handed over as part of a 'breeding program" everything else was up to me -keeping and feeding, etc.   I said I would need to check the facilities for keeping such cats and he gave me a number (extension that was at the High Commission of India in London and to get back to him. I would not be the first person to buy black leopards and every transaction had gone through with the correct governmental paperwork I was told.

I immediately contacted the Chief Constable who was basically the head of police forces wildlife crimes and told him about the call. I was told that there was nothing the police could do but it might be worth letting the Foreign Office and Her Majesty's Customs know since he thought it was a "tad dodgy".   

The outcome? 

Nothing.

If the official paperwork was with the animals and I agreed to keep them the problems might be at my end as I would need a Dangerous Wild Animals Licence and satisfactory and pre-inspected facilities to keep the cats in.

That was a bit of an eye-opener to me but looking at the legalities...yep. 100% legal. I decided to not phone the seller back (the phone number was checked by police and genuine) but he called me back. I was told there was no problem in not taking the cats as there was someone else interested but if I ever changed my mind to get in touch as "none of the previous purchasers have had any complaints" -so this was nothing new. Possibly corrupt but an embassy or High Commission and diplomatic immunity and no laws being broken it was a dead end but it did show that black leopards had been imported into the UK as well as regular coloured leopards.

That's the whole story. Nothing overly dramatic.