Provides that "wild animal" means indigenous, non-domesticated animals native to the country in which they live and "exotic animal" means a wild animal with an origin of a different continent; adds certain wild or exotic animals to the list of non-companion animals; provides certain owners of wild or exotic animals with a license process.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1804
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL, SIMON, BORES -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to wild
or exotic animals
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph e of subdivision 6 of section 11-0103 of the
2 environmental conservation law, as amended by chapter 10 of the laws of
3 2005, is amended to read as follows:
4 e. ["Wild animal" shall not include "companion animal" as defined in
5 section three hundred fifty of the agriculture and markets law. Wild
6 animal includes,] "Wild animal" means indigenous, non-domesticated
7 animals native to the country in which they live. "Exotic animal" means
8 a wild animal with an origin of a different continent. The terms wild
9 animal and exotic animal shall not include "companion animal" as defined
10 in section three hundred fifty of the agriculture and markets law. Wild
11 animals and exotic animals include and [is] are limited to, any or all
12 of the following orders [and], families, and genera:
13 (1) Nonhuman primates and prosimians,
14 (2) Felidae and all hybrids thereof, with the exception of the species
15 Felis catus (domesticated and feral cats, which shall mean domesticated
16 cats that were formerly owned and that have been abandoned and that are
17 no longer socialized, as well as offspring of such cats) and hybrids of
18 Felis catus that are registered by the American Cat Fanciers Association
19 or the International Cat Association provided that such cats be without
20 any wild felid parentage for a minimum of five generations,
21 (3) Canidae (with the exception of domesticated dogs and captive bred
22 fennec foxes (vulpes zerda)),
23 (4) Ursidae,
24 (5) All reptiles that are venomous by nature, pursuant to department
25 regulation, and the following species and orders: Burmese Python (Python
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00904-01-5
A. 1804 2
1 m. bivittatus), Reticulated Python (Python reticulatus), African Rock
2 Python (Python sabae), Green Anaconda (Eunectes maurinus), Yellow
3 Anaconda (Eunectes notaeus), Australian Amethystine Python (Morelia
4 amethistina and Morelia kinghorni), Indian Python (Python molurus),
5 Asiatic (water) Monitor (Varanus salvator), Nile Monitor (Varanus nilo-
6 citus), White Throat Monitor (Varanus albigularis), Black Throat Monitor
7 (Varanus albigularis ionides) and Crocodile Monitor (Varanus salvadori),
8 Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodensis) and any hybrid thereof,
9 (6) Crocodylia,
10 (7) Macropodidae including but not limited to kangaroos, wallabies,
11 tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons and quokkas,
12 (8) Cetacea (including whales and dolphins),
13 (9) Elephantidae (elephants),
14 (10) Hyaenidae (hyenas),
15 (11) Perissodactyla (including rhinoceroses, tapirs and zebras),
16 (12) Pinnipedia (including seals, sea lions and walruses),
17 (13) Xenarthra (including sloths, anteaters and armadillos),
18 (14) Viverridae (including bearcats),
19 (15) Cynomys, and
20 (16) Capybaras.
21 § 2. Section 11-0512 of the environmental conservation law is amended
22 by adding a new subdivision 3-a to read as follows:
23 3-a. Any person who possesses or harbors an exotic animal pursuant to
24 paragraph e of subdivision six of section 11-0103 of this article for
25 use as a pet at the time that this subdivision takes effect may retain
26 possession of such animal for the remainder of its life, provided that
27 such person:
28 a. Has not been convicted of any offense relating to cruelty to
29 animals or under a judicial order prohibiting possession of animals; and
30 b. Applies to the department within six months of the effective date
31 of this section, and obtains from the department, a license pursuant to
32 subdivision four of this section.
33 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
