The former owner of the National Birds of Prey Centre near Newent in
Gloucestershire has been convicted of stealing rare owls from zoos.
Keith Beaven, 68, of Staunton near Gloucester, was found guilty at Gloucester
Crown Court of theft, fraud, and illegally selling birds.
Beaven tricked various zoos in Europe into thinking he was still running the
centre despite having sold it in 2008. He pretended he wanted to borrow the birds as part of a breeding programme.
The court heard that Beaven deceived Paignton Zoo in Devon and zoos in
Germany and the Czech Republic. He sold the birds after getting into financial trouble.
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| Black Kite (Photo:G.Willetts/Cornwall Birding) |
Beaven was convicted of three charges of theft of owls, two of fraud and one
of prohibited sale of Black kites, after he claimed he did not have the correct
paperwork because they had been bred in captivity
At an earlier hearing he admitted stealing two northern hawk owls from a zoo
in the Czech Republic, claiming he owned them and had authority to sell
them.
He was found not guilty of two charges relating to fraud and theft of owls from Dudley Zoo.
He is due to be sentenced on 18 June.
Source: BBC NEWS
