Noah’s Ark Full of Stuffed Exotic Animals Seized in Miami

A veritable Noah’s Ark filled with the stuffed carcasses of endangered species was found in Miami’s Port Everglades this week by U.S. Customs agents. The mega yacht belongs to Russian-American billionaire Tamir Sapir, who appears to have some sort of bizarre obsession with dead animals.

A snarling Bengal tiger head, snakeskin-covered cigar box, ivory carvings and stuffed heads of lions and bears were among the items Sapir was keeping aboard the yacht in violation of endangered species laws.

From MSNBC:

Even though Sapir was not smuggling the items, U.S. Customs agents seized the boat and fined the real-estate tycoon $150,000. The expensive trinkets were also taken away.

“Personally, I think these items are rather creepy items,” said U.S. District Attorney Alex Acosta. “And I would not want them in my house, but some people like them and are willing to buy them. The reason laws exist is because there is a market.”

The yacht was found on an Italian freighter at Port Everglades and was explained to be Sapir’s personal boat for trips to the Caribbean.

Poor Sapir. First he fell off the Forbes.com 500 Richest Americans list, and now he’s been robbed of his beloved collection of carefully preserved dead animals. Life must be really tough for this businessman with a net worth of over $1.4 billion.

Creepy is not quite the right word for this. Imagine boarding this yacht as a guest of Mr. Sapir’s, expecting, at most, a gaudy Saudi oil baron-style gold toilet, and instead walking into a floating taxidermy shop. It sounds like the set of a horror movie.

Link [MSNBC]
Photo credit: Flickr user GregPC

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