THE former boss of Newent's International Birds of Prey Centre pretended to run a rare breeding programme so he could borrow endangered species from zoos but then sold them, a court heard yesterday.
Keith Beaven, 68, convinced wildlife centres across Britain and Europe to loan him various creatures to help protect their populations, it was said at Gloucester Crown Court.
But he is then alleged to have faked or altered official ownership certificates and sold the birds of prey to different buyers.
He carried out some of the scams while running the Newent centre, which had run into financial problems, the jury was told. During one incident he was allegedly in the process of getting a milky owl from a German zoo while emailing an Italian vendor promising to sell him one of the rare birds.
Beaven is accused of stealing two eagle owls from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, and a Ural owl, a spotted owl and a Boobook owl owned by Dudley Zoo in the West Midlands. He is also accused of a stealing a milky owl owned by Heidelburg Zoo in Germany and a milky owl from Paignton Zoo in Devon.
Beaven went on trial yesterday charged with 11 counts of theft and fraud offences, all relating to majestic birds of prey.
He pleaded not guilty to four counts of theft, four counts of fraud and one of selling three endangered black kites.
However, he pleaded guilty to one charge of fraud and one of theft.
The centre is no longer under his ownership after he sold it back to his predecessor Jemima Parry-Jones in 2008.
The week-long trial continues.
