“would go out onto”: Waller, interview, January 22.
“They don’t care”: Anonymous falcon breeder for Crown Prince Hamdan, interview by author, Dubai, October 31, 2017.
“a killing machine”: Emma Ford, Gyrfalcon (London: John Murray, 1999), 13.
“a predatorial mash-up”: T. Edward Nickens, “What One Magnificent Predator Can Show Us about the Arctic’s Future,” Audubon, January-February 2016.
“a large and faire”: Thomas T. Allsen, “Falconry and the Exchange Networks of Medieval Eurasia,” Pre-Modern Russia and Its World: Essays in Honor of Thomas S. Noonan (Wiesbaden, Germany: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2006), 39.
“she feels the heat”: Husam Al-Dawlah Taymur Mirza, The Baz-Nama-Yi Nasiri, a Persian Treatise on Falconry, trans. D. C. Philliott (London: Bernard Quaritch, 1908), 36.
“Almost like a long-married”: Peter Gwin, “Inside a Sheikh’s Plan to Protect the World’s Fastest Animal,” National Geographic, October 2018.
“arguably … one of the most”: Gwin.
“I put my hands”: Waller, interview, January 22.
“If the female is sucking”: Waller, interview, January 22.
“You can’t just put”: Waller, interview, January 22.
“I am a falconer”: Bailey and O’Donovan, “Interview with His Excellency.”
“There was one mountain gazelle”: Bailey and O’Donovan.
“Howard and his wife”: Jeffrey Lendrum, phone interview by author, February 2018.
“a very nice guy”: Lendrum, interview, December 18.
“The birds would get stressed”: Lendrum, interview, December 18.
“It’s ninety-nine percent”: Lendrum, interview, December 18.
“Lendrum and I may have”: Waller, interview, January 22.
“worldwide, multi-million dollar”: George Reiger, “Operation Falcon: The Anatomy of a Sting,” Field & Stream, January 1985, p. 23.
“like having someone”: Ford, Gyrfalcon, 144.
“Many Arabs still believe”: Roger Cook, “The Bird Bandits,” The Cook Report, ITV, February 1996.
“trying desperately”: The Hawk Board, press release, “Summary of Events Leading Up to and Following the Cook Report,” February 10, 1996.
“Eyes can be sewn shut”: Tanya Wyatt, “The Illegal Trade of Raptors in the Russian Federation,” Contemporary Justice Review: Issues in Criminal, Social, and Restorative Justice 14, no. 2 (2011).
“There were several Arabs”: Tom Parfitt, “Smuggling Trade Threatens Falcons with Extinction,” The Telegraph, March 27, 2005.
“There’s huge, huge money”: Anonymous falcon breeder, interview by author, undisclosed location, August 2017.
“laundering illegal birds”: Anonymous falcon breeder, interview by author, August 2017.
“anyone who believes”: Jemima Parry-Jones, interview by author, Newent, England, May, 2017.
“Inbreeding has reduced survivability”: Nick Fox, interview by author, Carmarthen, Wales, May 2, 2018.
“regular infusion of genes”: Toby Bradshaw, “Genetic Improvement of Captive Bred Raptors,” University of Washington faculty website, October 2009, http://faculty.washington.edu/toby/baywingdb/Genetics%20of%20captive-bred%20raptors.pdf.
“The thing they would worry about”: Jeffrey Lendrum, phone interview by author, March 16, 2018.
Chapter Eleven: Operation Chilly
“It’s going to be the adventure”: Paul Mullin, phone interview by author, October 31, 2018.
“a dream on my bucket list”: Jeffrey Lendrum, interview by author, Centurion, South Africa, December 18, 2017.
“The gyrfalcons are like bluebottle flies”: Paul Mullin, phone interview by author, June 4, 2018.
“Because we grew up together”: Howard Waller, interview by author, Inverness, Scotland, January 22, 2018.
“I told him”: Waller, interview, January 22.
“a complete liar”: Jeffrey Lendrum, phone interview by author, February 23, 2018.
“They are the biggest”: David Anderson, interview with Luke Whelan for author’s article, “The Egg Thief,” Outside, January 2019.
“one of them to go extinct”: Robinson Meyer, “The Battle over 2,500-Year-Old Shelters Made of Poop,” The Atlantic, July 24, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/07/falcon-battle-over-nests-of-bird-poop/534510/.
“[I am a] utility bush pilot”: LinkedIn profile of “bush pilot.”
“Look at us”: Video of “Operation Chilly,” shot by Paul Mullin, June 2001, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWce39190B0.
“They’re beautiful”: Lendrum, video of “Operation Chilly,” shot by Mullin, June 2001.
“That is a fucking noise”: Lendrum, video of “Operation Chilly,” shot by Mullin, June 2001.
“dangling from a helicopter”: Paul Mullin, phone interview by author, May 3, 2019.
“The nest was … the most filthy”: Ernest Blakeman Vesey, In Search of the Gyrfalcon: An Account of a Trip to Northwest Iceland (London: Constable, 1938), 69.
“The nest of these hawks”: John James Audubon, Birds of America (New York: Welcome Rain Publishers, 2001; first edition published 1828).
“The ground color”: Arthur Cleveland Bent, Life Histories of American Birds of Prey Part II, Smithsonian Institution Bulletin 170 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1938), 12.
“You’re dependent on air flow”: Paul Mullin, interview by author, Hampshire, England, August 27, 2017.
“A lake, a mountain”: Ronald Stevens, The Taming of Genghis (London: Hancock House, 2010; first edition published 1956).
“Are you down?”: Video of “Operation Chilly,” shot by Paul Mullin.
“He was always protective”: Mullin, phone interview, June 4.
“We never bothered”: Mullin, phone interview, June 4.
“It was a total success”: Mullin, interview, August 27.
Chapter Twelve: Busted
“the Star Wars effect”: Paul Mullin, interview by author, Hampshire, England, August 27, 2017.
“This is getting too much”: Pete Duncan, phone interview by author, October 29, 2017.
“I’m planning to come back”: Duncan, phone interview, October 29.
“Any wildlife photographer”: Duncan, phone interview, October 29.
“There’s something fishy”: Duncan, phone interview, October 29.
“These guys are stealing eggs”: Dave Watt, phone interview by author, October 27, 2017.
“it was enough”: Mullin, interview, August 27.
“This is it, Jeff”: Mullin, interview, August 27.
“Have you been stealing”: Mullin, interview, August 27.
“You can either plead”: Watt, phone interview, October 27.
“He wanted to destroy the evidence”: Watt, phone interview, October 27.
“He would risk his own life to save them”: Paul Mullin, interview by author, Hampshire, England, May 3, 2018.
“He was the weakest”: Mullin, interview, May 3.
“out of jealousy”: Mullin, interview, May 3.
“Poachers Fined for Illegal Possession”: Jane George, Nunatsiaq News, May 15, 2002.
“Poached Eggs Seized from Fake Film Crew”: National Post, May 18, 2002.
“That was it”: Mullin, interview, May 3.
Chapter Thirteen: The Unit
“Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taliban”: “Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taliban Breaks into His OWN Police Station in Bizarre Security Stunt,” Evening Standard, December 17, 2007.
“use investigative tactics”: Jason Bennetto, “Police Set Up Wildlife Crime Squad to Hunt Down Gangs Muscling in Lucrative Trade,” The Independent, April 22, 2002.
“Most officers would say”: Andy McWilliam, interview by author, Liverpool, August 22, 2017.
“Don’t knock it”: Andy McWilliam, email to author, October 20, 2017.
“Have you thought”: McWilliam, interview, August 22.
“Suddenly I was moved�
�: McWilliam, interview, August 22.
“Give it a go”: McWilliam, interview, August 22.
“people who think”: “UK Wildlife Crime Centre Launched,” BBC News, October 18, 2006.
“The [Home Office] didn’t”: Alan Roberts, phone interview by author, September 7, 2017.
“Those killing birds”: Guy Shorrock, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds blog, May 23, 2018, https://community.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/b/investigations/posts/op-easter-3-of-3-nearly-cracked.
“antique ivory carvings”: Andy McWilliam, interview by author, Liverpool, October 2, 2017.
“It still smelled bad”: Roberts, phone interview, September 7.
“academic zeal”: Simon Winchester, “The Bone Man: A Skull Collector Reveals His Extraordinary Private Collection,” The Independent, October 12, 2012.
“back from the brink”: “Back from the Brink: Together We Can Bring Our Threatened Species Back from the Brink,” website of Buglife, https://www.buglife.org.uk/back-from-the-brink.
“There’s not a lot”: McWilliam, interview, October 2.
“finished him off”: McWilliam, interview, October 2.
“extreme and sickening cruelty”: Lord Justice Laws, Mr. Justice Gray, and Judge Rivlin QC, Regina v. Raymond Leslie Humphrey, Court of Appeal, June 23, 2003.
“was prepared to go to any lengths”: “Bird Smuggling Racket Netted £160,000,” Yorkshire Post, August 2, 2001.
“One of the things with being a police wildlife officer”: Poached, directed by Timothy Wheeler (Ignite Channel, 2015), transcript of interview with Andy McWilliam.
“We began to pick up”: McWilliam, interview, October 2.
“It’s all to do with the fact”: Poached.
“I do think on occasions they have something to offer”: Andy McWilliam, email to Alan Roberts and other NWCS personnel, February 26, 2013, obtained and originally published in the British press through the Freedom of Information Act.
Chapter Fourteen: The Rhondda Valley
“If you steal the eggs”: Mike Thomas, interview by author, Garw Valley, Wales, May 1, 2018.
“Whoever is climbing this”: Thomas, interview, May 1.
“You can spend days”: Thomas, interview, May 1.
“A couple of years”: Andy McWilliam, interview by author, Rhondda Valley, Wales, May 3, 2017.
“The hills have been stripped”: Arthur Morris, Glamorgan, cited in the GENUKI Gazetteer, UK and Ireland Geneology, GENUKI charitable trust, https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/GLA/Rhondda/HistSnips.
“We’re at the end”: Ian Guildford, interview by author, Rhondda Valley, Wales, May 3, 2017.
“I’ve got a lucky ability”: Jeffrey Lendrum, phone interview by author, March 16, 2018.
“We’ve got a man in custody”: Andy McWilliam, interview by author, Liverpool, August 22, 2017.
“If we bail him”: McWilliam, interview, August 22.
“Charge him”: McWilliam, interview, August 22.
“going on a tour”: Video of “Operation Chilly,” shot by Paul Mullin, June 2001, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWce39190B0.
“One [falcon] seen flying”: Jeffrey Lendrum, account of February 2010 Sri Lanka journey, found by Andy McWilliam on Lendrum’s computer, shared with author.
“Good rock face”: Lendrum, account of February 2010 Sri Lanka journey.
“Dubai customs were very iffy”: Lendrum, account of February 2010 Sri Lanka journey.
“I don’t remember that”: Lendrum, interview by author, Centurion, South Africa, December 18, 2017.
“the effects of global warming”: McWilliam, interview by author, Liverpool, January 21, 2018.
“in all probability, came from the supply of eggs”: Prosecutor, Regina v. Jeffrey Paul Lendrum, before His Honour Judge Hudson, Crown Court Warwick, August 19, 2010.
“Karma’s a bitch”: Mullin, phone interview by author, May 3, 2019.
“I was with Lendrum”: Mullin, interview, May 3.
“untested source”: McWilliam, interview, January 21.
“If you’ve got somebody local”: McWilliam, interview, May 3.
“He knows more about the wild birds”: Ian Guildford, interview by author, Garw Valley, Wales, May 1, 2018.
“If [security] opened”: Jeffrey Lendrum, phone interview by author, February 23, 2018.
“senior members of UAE society”: McWilliam, PowerPoint display, NWCU, shared with author.
“He’s well traveled”: Nevin Hunter, phone interview by author, October 25, 2017.
“I sat down with Andy”: Hunter, phone interview, October 25.
“Peregrines and gyrfalcons”: Alan Roberts, phone interview by author, September 7, 2017.
“I’ve been to court”: McWilliam, interview, January 21.
“You all right?”: McWilliam, interview, January 21.
“The environmental crime”: Judge Christopher Hodson, Regina v. Jeffrey Paul Lendrum, Crown Court Warwick, August 19, 2010.
“At the end of the day”: Hodson, Regina v. Jeffrey Paul Lendrum.
“Bloody hell”: Andy McWilliam, phone interview by author, May 2018.
“Caged: The £70K Egg Snatcher”: Daily Mirror, August 20, 2010, p. 3.
“A Bird in the Hand, a Smuggler in Jail”: the Times, August 20, 2010, p. 1.
“Jailed, Former Soldier Caught”: Daily Mail, August 20, 2010, p. 30.
“a former member”: Mark Hughes, “Ex-Soldier Jailed for Theft of Rare Falcon Eggs,” The Independent, August 20, 2010, p. 7.
“The Rare Falcon Chicks Saved”: Daily Express, August 20, 2010, p. 3.
“Few of the end users”: P. C. Mundy, “The Lendrum Case: Retrospective 2,” Honeyguide 56, no. 2 (September 2010).
“the world’s poorest thief”: Michelle Conway, interview by author, London, January 9, 2019.
Chapter Fifteen: Prison
“You got hit for taking birds?”: Jeffrey Lendrum, phone interview by author, March 16, 2018.
“a guy at the top of his game”: Andy McWilliam, interview by author, Liverpool, August 22, 2017.
“It was spur of the moment”: Lendrum, phone interview, March 16.
“your pilot friend”: Lendrum, phone interview, March 16.
“If I hadn’t saved those birds”: Andy McWilliam, interview by author, Liverpool, January 21, 2018.
“manifestly excessive and out of step”: Lord Justice Moore-Bick, Mrs. Justice Cox, and Sir Christopher Holland, Regina v. Jeffrey Paul Lendrum, Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), February 1, 2011.
“He had no bills”: Charles Graham, phone interview by author, January 14, 2019.
“Jeff had this South African”: Graham, phone interview, January 14.
“He told me he was finished”: Craig Hunt, phone interview by author, January 20, 2019.
“is excited to travel”: African Hunting Gazette, notice posted on AfricaHunting.com, April 8, 2013, https://www.africahunting.com/threads/jeffrey-lendrum-of-african-hunting-gazette-convicted-wildlife-smuggler.10615/.
“Hey Andy, it’s Jeffrey”: McWilliam, interview, August 22.
“I thought to myself”: McWilliam, interview, August 22.
“People will still follow”: McWilliam, interview, August 22.
“You can stay with me”: Lendrum, phone interview, March 16.
“He’s filled with so much shit”: Andy McWilliam, interview by author, Martin Mere Wetlands Reserve, England, October 2, 2017.
“Cop’s Work on the Wild Side”: Douglas Walker, “Cop’s Work on the Wild Side,” The Sun, February 11, 2012.
“Before I took over”: Walker, “Cop’s Work.”
“Bring it on”: McWilliam, interview, October 2.
“Jeffrey Lendrum of African Hunting Gazette”: Jerome Philippe, post on message board, AfricaHunting.com, April 8, 2013, https://www.africahunting.com/threads/jeffrey-lendrum-of-african-hunting-gazette-convicted-wildlife-smuggler.10615/.
230“Is African Hunting Gazette letting”: “africauntamed,�
� post on AfricaHunting.com, April 8, 2013.
“I knew I was running”: Richard Lendrum, post on AfricaHunting.com, July 5, 2017, https://www.africahunting.com/threads/jeffrey-lendrum-of-african-hunting-gazette-convicted-wildlife-smuggler.10615/.
“What I did was stupid”: Jeffrey Lendrum, as “Bell407,” post on AfricaHunting.com, April 10, 2013.
“horrific”: Richard Lendrum, interview by author, Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa, December 18, 2017.
“wildlife trafficker”: Richard Lendrum, post on AfricaHunting.com, July 5.
Chapter Sixteen: Patagonia
“the desolate place of bad spirits”: The Rough Guide to Chile (London: Rough Guides UK, September 2015), https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/south-america/chile/southern-patagonia/parque-nacional-pali-aike/.
“Is it still there?”: Nicolas Fernández, interview by author, Punta Arenas, Chile, October 19, 2018.
“at the highest global”: Andy McWilliam, quoted in “Award for Birmingham Cleaner Who Caught Egg Smuggler,” BBC News, October 6, 2010.
“the highest level”: Guy Shorrock, quoted by Claire Marshall, “Egg Smuggler Was Wildlife Criminal,” BBC News, August 19, 2010.
“I’m uneasy about this”: Nicolas Fernández, email provided to author, October 19, 2018.
“Basically you’ve got to know”: Jeffrey Lendrum, phone interview by author, February 23, 2018.
“being less conspicuous”: David Ellis, Beth Ann Sabo, James F. Fackler, and Brian A. Millsap, “Prey of the Peregrine Falcon (Falco Peregrinus Cassini) in Southern Argentina and Brazil,” Journal of the Raptor Research Foundation, 2002, Vol. 36, no. 4: 318.
“He was a nice, friendly”: Fernández, interview, October 19.
“We received the following”: Rafael Asenjo, email provided to author by Rodrigo Tomei (Lendrum’s attorney), October 14, 2018.
“They’re chicken eggs”: Rodrigo Tomei, interview by author, Guarulhos, Brazil, October 14, 2018.
“They caught me”: Tomei, interview, October 14.
“he could convince”: Tomei, interview, October 14.
The Falcon Thief Page 27
