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NY Billionaire's Yacht Seized Over Endangered Animals

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Water, Wealth, Crimes and Misdemeanors


A $26 million yacht with Versace interiors owned by cab driver-turned-fertilizer king Tamir Sapir - who lives in Manhattan's famed Duke-Semans mansion (above) - was seized by customs officials in Miami this week over trophies made from the skins of endangered animals. The yacht, named the Mystère, was found to contain zebra skins, a jaguar skin rug, Bengal tiger and African lion heads, cigar boxes covered in elephant hide, a reticulated python cigarette holder, and large carved ivory tusks, the Miami Herald reports.

Sapir, an emigré from Russia whose $1.4 billion fortune is now mainly invested in real estate, will get the yacht back minus the gruesome décor after paying a $150,000 fine. Sapir bought the historic seven-story Duke-Semans mansion across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art from Doris Duke's relatives for $40 million after a single walk-through, and is now said to be spending $10 million on renovations including - get this - a gallery for his world-class collection of ivory. He is ranked at No. 522 on Forbes' Richest Americans list.


Tags: animal skins, AnimalSkins, billionaires, Doris Duke, DorisDuke, Duke-Semans mansion, Duke-semansMansion, endangered species, EndangeredSpecies, Forbes, Miami, Tamir Sapir, TamirSapir, yacht

Snow Leopard Vodka

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

We already learned that you can drink wine to save hummingbirds, how about vodka to save the snow leopard. Snow Leopard vodka is a new vodka made with spelt grain in Poland. The vodka will give 15% of the profits to the Snow Leopard Trust, an organization which protects the future of this endangered feline. The vodka has launched in London and is available in bars and at the Harvey Nichols Wine Shops for  £36.

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Tags: endangered species, snow leopard, snow leopard vodka, SnowLeopardVodka, vodka

Drink Wine, Save Hummingbirds

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Need a new reason to drink wine? How about the cute little fellow on the right. Clos LaChance Winery in San Martin, California has partnered with The Hummingbird Society to create a limited "Threatened Species" blended wine. The hummingbird is already the symbol of the winery and this fall they will release the Juan Fernández Firecrown Hummingbird Series wine, a Bordeaux blended wine is named after the Juan Fernández Firecrown. The wine costs $25 per bottle and 15% percent of sales on each bottle will be donated to the Hummingbird Society for preservation of the Juan Fernández Firecrown.

[via Avenue Vine]

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Tags: california wine, clos la chance, ClosLaChance, endangered species, hummingbird, wine, winery

The Caviar Ban Goes Global

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

A few months ago the United States banned beluga caviar now the New Scientist reports that the worldwide trade in wild caviar has banned. The major caviar-producing countries were unable to prove to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that their stocks of wild sturgeon are sustainable. The ban does not apply to farmed sturgeon. A 30% decline in wild sturgeon stocks in 2004 led to the ban which will affect Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia-Montenegro and Ukraine.The hope is that a ban on caviar will help save the endangered fish and stop illegal poaching. Countries that want to export sturgeon products have to show that their catch and export quotas don't put fish in peril. Importers are responsible for making sure their imports are legal and have to have registration systems for processing and repackaging caviar.

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Tags: beluga, caspian sea, caviar, endangered species, russia, sturgeon



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