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Bobo's owner can't replace tiger

By Rochelle Brenner
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 13, 2004

In case there was confusion, it's now clear: Steve Sipek can't replace Bobo. Ever.
At least not with the permit he has now.

In a letter hand-delivered to Sipek at his Loxahatchee home, the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told the former B-movie actor Wednesday that he cannot obtain any more big cats.

The commission cited a 1980 law banning the ownership of lions, tigers and other dangerous animals as pets. The letter is the latest twist in the saga of Bobo, the Bengal-Siberian tiger whose escape and shooting death last month brought the wildlife agency worldwide notoriety. "Due to the series of unfortunate events that have occurred, I feel that it is important to insure you understand the law and rules," commission Executive Director Kenneth Haddad wrote in a letter dated Aug. 6. "Although we do not intend to seize any... specimens you have obtained after August 1, 1980, this agency cannot allow you to obtain any more specimens."

That means Sipek can keep his collection of five cats but cannot get any more tigers, lions or leopards unless he applies for a commercial license as either an exhibitor or a breeder, commission spokesman Willie Puz said. The tiger, two lions and leopard still at his compound can stay because the law "hasn't been enforced to this point," Puz said. Sipek also owns a cougar, which the state considers "potentially dangerous" and can be owned under a pet permit.

The letter is a signal that wildlife officials will enforce the law they have had on the books since 1980, Puz said. The commission told Sipek in 1986 that he could not obtain any more of the banned creatures.
But as recently as last month, the commission said Sipek could continue acquiring big cats because he had owned those types of animals before the law took effect. Now the commission is reverting to its original policy. "We will be adhering at this point to that rule. Though we have been inconsistent in the past, we will be consistent in the future statewide," Puz said.
Letters are being sent to anyone who has been using a pre-1980 permit to keep obtaining those types of animals. But Sipek and his lawyer said the agency is trying to gain ammunition against them for exposing the flaws in its rules.

"That's stupid - unbelievable. I told them I'm not going to obey the orders," Sipek said. "I had so many cats in here because I was grandfathered in. How was I able to keep the cats for 24 years?
"They change the rules as they go," he said. "They have no idea what they're talking about."
Although Sipek said he is not actively trying to replace Bobo, he said he wouldn't turn any animals away and may try to get more once the pain over Bobo's death subsides.

A wildlife officer shot Bobo July 13 after the commission said the animal lunged at him in the culmination of a 26-hour search. Meanwhile, Puz has been responding to a torrent of e-mail criticizing the agency's actions. In an e-mail, Puz reiterated that the commission regrets how the search ended, but the shooter, Jesse Curtis Lee, was well-trained and justified because he feared for his life.