New Jersey man charged with illegal purchase of $6,800 tiger-skin rug

PHILADELPHIA-A New Jersey man was charged this week with buying a $6,800 tiger-skin rug in violation of federal wildlife conservation laws.

Authorities released few details about the case and declined to answer questions. They said only that Loren Varga, 60, of Franklin Park, the pelt in Pennsylvania this month and agreed to plead guilty at a forthcoming court hearing in Philadelphia.

The Endangered Species Act makes buying, selling, importing, or exporting tiger fur or body parts a federal crime punishable by up to a year in prison and $50,000 in fines.

Varga did not return calls for comment Friday, and it was not clear whether he had retained an attorney.

On his Facebook page, he identifies himself as an employee in the radiology department at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., an avid world traveler and antique collector, and a descendant of Charlemagne.

The population of wild tigers has been decimated over the last century by poaching and habitat destruction. In 2015, conservationists estimated that the global wild tiger population had plummeted to less than 4,000-down from around 100,000 at the start of the 20th century. The U.S. government and animal welfare groups estimate that more tigers are living in captivity in U.S. zoos and private menageries than remain in the wild.

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