I live on Vancouver Island and have a chance to purchase a small, old
polar bear rug. Before I buy it I would really like to know about the
legality of owning it. There are no papers saying when or where it was
killed but the owner insists it is very old and quite legal. Any
suggestions?
Thanks very much.
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near you and talk with one of the Conservation Officers about this. Do not accept the rug until you have some permitting or license info from the current owner as you could become open to charges of illegal possesion under CITES or other Federal Statutes/Regulations regulating Polar Bear items. There are several offices including Victoria and Nanaimo. The BC Gov't website has links to get phone numbers.
and Environment Canada/Canadian Wildlife Service will ultimately issue the permit. It must be a federal permit for polar bears. This comes directly from Ottawa, but the COs will know who to contact there.