Wayne LaPierre and his wife secretly sent elephant parts from their Botswana hunt, to avoid public outcry.The New Yorker found that records indicating Susan LaPierre requested the shipment had no obvious links to the couple.Taxidermy records show that the parts were used to make home decor such as stools, umbrella stands, and trash cans.10 Things in Politics: Keep up to date with the latest news in politics and the economy. Loading Click Sign up to receive marketing emails and other offers from Insider.According to a new report, Wayne LaPierre and Susan, former heads of the National Rifle Association sent parts of an elephant that they had shot in 2013 to make home decor.Late April saw leaked video footage from The New Yorker, The Trace showing the LaPierres shooting and killing two elephants at Botswana.According to The New Yorker, a Botswana export company emailed the couple to confirm shipment of animal parts. It included one cape buffalo skull, two sheets elephant skin, four elephant ears, four elephant trunks and four frontal elephant feet.Susan LaPierre requested that the shipment not have any clear links to the couple. She asked for the name of an American taxidermist to be used as "the consignee", and that the company "not mention our names anywhere, if at all," The New Yorker reported.According to records obtained by the news source, the taxidermist sent a message to the shipping company. He explained that LaPierre's could not afford bad publicity or an out cry. This is why they tried to not have their names appear on the shipments.Susan LaPierre noted that the couple was expecting to receive "an assortment skulls and skins of warthogs. impalas. and a. hyena." in their shipment.The New Yorker reported that taxidermy work orders with the LaPierres' names required the four elephants' front feet to be made into'stools', an 'umbrella stand' and a trash can. At their request, the tusks were mounted and skulls preserved. The hyena was made into a rug.This request was made in the midst of the backlash against Tony Makris (a long-time advisor to LaPierre), after he killed and shot an elephant while hunting on "Under Wild Skies." The LaPierres' hunt had been filmed for an episode of the show but was canceled by The New Yorker.The wild population of African elephants is approximately 415,000. The World Wildlife Fund has listed the species as endangered. However, they are in danger due to poaching and hunting.Insider reached out to the NRA for clarification, but they did not immediately respond. Andrew Arulanandam was the NRA's managing director of public relations. He stated that LaPierres' activity in Botswana since more than seven years ago is legal and completely permitted.Arulanandam said, "Many of these most famous hunting trophies are at the NRA Museum or have been donated to other attractions by the NRA."Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, filed a lawsuit against the NRA to disband it last August. She claimed that the NRA is "fraught" with fraud and abuse and that LaPierre was using his position as executive vice president for personal gain.James' office filed a complaint last August alleging that the LaPierres were given free taxidermy work. This was "contained private benefits and gifts in excess to authorized amounts pursuant NRA policy to LaPierre, his wife."
