117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 263 

AN ACT 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to clarify 

provisions enacted by the Captive Wildlife Safety Act, 

to further the conservation of certain wildlife species, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Big Cat Public Safety 

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2 of the Lacey Act 

6 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsections (a) through (k) 

8 as subsections (b) through (l), respectively; and 

9 (2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so re10 designated) the following: 

11 ‘‘(a) BREED.—The term ‘breed’ means to facilitate 

12 propagation or reproduction (whether intentionally or neg13 ligently), or to fail to prevent propagation or reproduc14 tion.’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

16 (1) CONSOLIDATED FARM AND RURAL DEVEL17 OPMENT ACT.—Section 349(a)(3) of the Consoli18 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

19 1997(a)(3)) is amended— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘section 2(a)’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘section 2’’; and 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘3371(a)’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘3371’’. 

24 (2) LACEY ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1981.—Section 

25 7(c) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 
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1 U.S.C. 3376(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 

2 2(f)(2)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2(g)(2)(A)’’. 

3 SEC. 3. PROHIBITIONS. 

4 Section 3 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 

5 U.S.C. 3372) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

9 the semicolon at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

10 or’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by strik12 ing ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a semicolon; and 

13 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C); 

14 and 

15 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(1) 

16 through (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) through (3) or 

17 subsection (e)’’; and 

18 (2) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol19 lows: 

20 ‘‘(e) CAPTIVE WILDLIFE OFFENSE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graph (2), it is unlawful for any person to— 

23 ‘‘(A) import, export, transport, sell, re24 ceive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or for-
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1 eign commerce, or in a manner substantially af2 fecting interstate or foreign commerce; or 

3 ‘‘(B) breed or possess; 

4 any prohibited wildlife species. 

5 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—Paragraph 

6 (1) does not apply to— 

7 ‘‘(A) an entity exhibiting animals to the 

8 public under a Class C license from the Depart9 ment of Agriculture, or a Federal facility reg10 istered with the Department of Agriculture that 

11 exhibits animals, if such entity or facility holds 

12 such license or registration in good standing 

13 and if the entity or facility— 

14 ‘‘(i) does not allow any individual to 

15 come into direct physical contact with a 

16 prohibited wildlife species, unless that indi17 vidual is— 

18 ‘‘(I) a trained professional em19 ployee or contractor of the entity or 

20 facility (or an accompanying employee 

21 receiving professional training); 

22 ‘‘(II) a licensed veterinarian (or a 

23 veterinary student accompanying such 

24 a veterinarian); or 
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1 ‘‘(III) directly supporting con2 servation programs of the entity or fa3 cility, the contact is not in the course 

4 of commercial activity (which may be 

5 evidenced by advertisement or pro6 motion of such activity or other rel7 evant evidence), and the contact is in8 cidental to humane husbandry con9 ducted pursuant to a species-specific, 

10 publicly available, peer-edited popu11 lation management and care plan that 

12 has been provided to the Secretary 

13 with justifications that the plan— 

14 ‘‘(aa) reflects established 

15 conservation science principles; 

16 ‘‘(bb) incorporates genetic 

17 and demographic analysis of a 

18 multi-institution population of 

19 animals covered by the plan; and 

20 ‘‘(cc) promotes animal wel21 fare by ensuring that the fre22 quency of breeding is appropriate 

23 for the species; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) ensures that during public exhi25 bition of a lion (Panthera leo), tiger 
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1 (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera 

2 pardus), snow leopard (Uncia uncia), jag3 uar (Panthera onca), cougar (Puma 

4 concolor), or any hybrid thereof, the ani5 mal is at least 15 feet from members of 

6 the public unless there is a permanent bar7 rier sufficient to prevent public contact; 

8 ‘‘(B) a State college, university, or agency, 

9 or a State-licensed veterinarian; 

10 ‘‘(C) a wildlife sanctuary that cares for 

11 prohibited wildlife species, and— 

12 ‘‘(i) is a corporation that is exempt 

13 from taxation under section 501(a) of the 

14 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and de15 scribed in sections 501(c)(3) and 

16 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of such Code; 

17 ‘‘(ii) does not commercially trade in 

18 any prohibited wildlife species, including 

19 offspring, parts, and byproducts of such 

20 animals; 

21 ‘‘(iii) does not breed any prohibited 

22 wildlife species; 

23 ‘‘(iv) does not allow direct contact be24 tween the public and any prohibited wild25 life species; and 
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1 ‘‘(v) does not allow the transportation 

2 and display of any prohibited wildlife spe3 cies off-site; 

4 ‘‘(D) has custody of any prohibited wildlife 

5 species solely for the purpose of expeditiously 

6 transporting the prohibited wildlife species to a 

7 person described in this paragraph with respect 

8 to the species; or 

9 ‘‘(E) an entity or individual that is in pos10 session of any prohibited wildlife species that 

11 was born before the date of the enactment of 

12 the Big Cat Public Safety Act, and— 

13 ‘‘(i) not later than 180 days after the 

14 date of the enactment of the such Act, the 

15 entity or individual registers each indi16 vidual animal of each prohibited wildlife 

17 species possessed by the entity or indi18 vidual with the United States Fish and 

19 Wildlife Service; 

20 ‘‘(ii) does not breed, acquire, or sell 

21 any prohibited wildlife species after the 

22 date of the enactment of such Act; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) does not allow direct contact be24 tween the public and prohibited wildlife 

25 species.’’. 
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1 SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 

2 (a) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 4(a)(1) of the Lacey 

3 Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(a)(1)) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) by inserting ‘‘(e),’’ after ‘‘(d),’’; and 

6 (2) by inserting ‘‘, (e),’’ after ‘‘subsection (d)’’. 

7 (b) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Section 4(d) of the 

8 Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(d)) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘(e),’’ 

11 after ‘‘(d),’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘(e),’’ 

13 after ‘‘(d),’’; 

14 (3) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘(e),’’ after 

15 ‘‘(d),’’; and 

16 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(4) Any person who knowingly violates section 

18 3(e) shall be fined not more than $20,000, or im19 prisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. Each 

20 violation shall be a separate offense and the offense 

21 is deemed to have been committed in the district 

22 where the violation first occurred, and in any district 

23 in which the defendant may have taken or been in 

24 possession of the prohibited wildlife species.’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. FORFEITURE OF PROHIBITED WILDLIFE SPECIES. 

2 Section 5(a)(1) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 

3 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3374(a)(1)) is amended by inserting 

4 ‘‘bred, possessed,’’ before ‘‘imported, exported,’’. 

5 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION. 

6 Section 7(a) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 

7 (16 U.S.C. 3376(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall, in consultation with 

10 other relevant Federal and State agencies, promul11 gate any regulations necessary to implement section 

12 3(e).’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 29, 2022. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 263 

AN ACT 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to 

wildlife species, and for other purposes. Safety Act, to further the conservation of certain clarify provisions enacted by the Captive Wildlife