Sea otter skull for sale on eBay

Yeah, that's not the first sea otter that seller has put up. He usually has Bears and otters, and I've seen him sell a seal too. Would love a legit sea otter... or one of those giant otters.

 

The Russian sea otters (E.l.lutris subspecies) are in CITES App. II.
The seller wrote nothing about permits though.

 

The seller may manage to issue an export permit with Russian fish & game authorities, but importing to the buyer's country (especially US) looks almot impossible.
So, I would recommend everyone think twice - you may lose your money and get in trouble.
Craving for a sea otter? Buy a replica. With sea otters, it's one of few cases when a replica of carnivore skull can be almost identical to real one (due to those nice dense turbinates forming almost solid wall in nasal cavity).

 

I've always looked at it this way... While it's nice to have a rare skull (rare by US standards), it's better to have a collection that I'm not afraid to display and so I try to stay away from any legal issues. Sometimes it's worth a bit of hoop-jumping and paperwork to get something I'd really like to add to my collection (Mountain lions are a pain to own in Florida for example, but I've got one with all the necessary paperwork and I'll probably jump hoops to get a brown bear at some point too).The breadth of life on this planet is such that there will always be difficult to find, yet entirely legal pieces available to add to my collection!

 

I'm not to sure about the USA but going by the rules here in Canada; once an animal is processed fully, the need for the Cites is no longer needed... Here we have otter like weeds! And when you trap an otter while it's raw it must have the Cities plastic tag; but once its tanned, mounted or processed (not including drying) the tag is not needed.. I don't know if thats true over in the us though :3

 

Umm not quite. What you are talking about is sales/possession of said item within Canada or within your province. If you plan on importing a part from a CITES II or III animal a CITES export permit from its country of origin is required. This is if the item is processed, now if it was a raw skull you where trying to import from a foreign country that would bring a whole host of other issues due to diseases etc...

Now where it gets weird is if you are bringing back a souvenir made from the parts of a CITES II or III animal and it is in your personal luggage then no permits are required. I have an email from CITES Canada confirming this, and can pm a print screen of that email to anybody who is interested. Method of transportation, changes permit requirements, go figure.