Public Notice Posted at the Request of USF&WS:

An argali trophy that was seized on import into the United States due to restrictions placed in the U.S. Threatened Species Permit on the length of the Mongolian hunting season has been released.  When releasing the trophy, the U.S. Department of the Interior emphasized that the release was granted only because of the unique circumstances of the case, which involved confusion regarding the term of the legal hunting season in Mongolia, and will not be precedent for other remissions of forfeiture of seized trophies.  Prior permit practices used a simple reference to hunting season to mean the specific months and days of the hunting season as set at the time of permit issuance.  This practice will be further clarified in future threatened species permits issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pursuant to 50 C.F.R. § 17.32 for the argali to include the specific months of any seasons that (as appropriate) may be included as conditions to such permits.