Feds: Tiger head en route to Lake Co. taxidermist; nothing illegal

The tiger head that fell from the back of a truck onto a busy highway near Volo was from an 18-year-old animal that was kept in a private zoo near Grayslake and recently died of natural causes, federal officials said.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Jason Holm said Wednesday that Hawthorn Corp. Exotic Zoo apparently had an agreement to return the big cat, upon its death, to its owner so he could preserve it.

"There is nothing illegal about stuffing a legally captive tiger after it's dead," Holm said.

The zoo has proper federal and state permits allowing it to have tigers and other wild animals, he said. The exact date of the tiger's death was unavailable.

However, reached at his Florida home Wednesday, John Cuneo Jr., who owns the exotic zoo, said he wasn't aware one of his tigers had died. He also said he's baffled by the idea someone else kept a big feline at his zoo.

"We have never, ever boarded animals owned by other people," Cuneo said. "I don't know who is dreaming this up. It isn't true."

Holm said Cuneo's zoo was not listed as the tiger's owner in Fish and Wildlife reports. Federal and local authorities declined to release the name of the tiger's owner.

Lakemoor Police Chief Wallace Fraiser said the tiger's head bounced out of the back of a truck near routes 12 and 120 as the owner was driving to a taxidermist Feb. 26. Someone saw the animal's head, placed it in a milk crate and brought it to Lakemoor police.

Fish and Wildlife officials collected the head Feb. 27. Holm said the animal's owner contacted his agency and retrieved the head after agents concluded the tiger was kept on a site with proper permits from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state of Illinois.

Holm said the tiger had a pigmentation anomaly that made it appear to be white. Fraiser described the animal's head as white with black stripes.

Under the federal government's Captive Wildlife Safety Act, it's illegal to import, export, buy, sell, transport, receive or acquire certain big cats across state lines or the U.S. border. There are exemptions for some entities and individuals, such as zoos, circuses, state-licensed veterinarians and wildlife sanctuaries meeting specific criteria.

Lions, tigers, leopards, snow leopards, clouded leopards, jaguars, cheetahs and cougars are covered by the federal act, as well as hybrids of the species. The act doesn't ban big cat ownership.