I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 263 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 11, 2021 

Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 

BUCHANAN, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. MCNERNEY, and 

Mr. WOMACK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

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

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

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

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

6 (2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so re7 designated) the following: 

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

9 propagation or reproduction (whether intentionally or neg10 ligently), or to fail to prevent propagation or reproduc11 tion.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

13 (1) CONSOLIDATED FARM AND RURAL DEVEL14 OPMENT ACT.—Section 349(a)(3) of the Consoli15 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

16 1997(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 2(a)’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘section 2(b)’’. 

18 (2) LACEY ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1981.— 

19 (A) Section 3(e)(2)(C) of the Lacey Act 

20 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 

21 3372(e)(2)(C)) is amended— 

22 (i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘section 

23 2(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2(h)’’; and 

24 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘section 

25 2(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2(h)’’. 


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1 (B) Section 7(c) of the Lacey Act Amend2 ments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3376(c)) is amended 

3 by striking ‘‘section 2(f)(2)(A)’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘section 2(g)(2)(A)’’. 

5 SEC. 3. PROHIBITIONS. 

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

7 U.S.C. 3372) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

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

11 the semicolon at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

12 or’’; 

13 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by strik14 ing ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a semicolon; and 

15 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C); 

16 and 

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

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

19 subsection (e)’’; and 

20 (2) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol21 lows: 

22 ‘‘(e) CAPTIVE WILDLIFE OFFENSE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is unlawful for any per24 son to import, export, transport, sell, receive, ac25 quire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce, 


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1 or in a manner substantially affecting interstate or 

2 foreign commerce, or to breed or possess, any pro3 hibited wildlife species. 

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

5 (1) does not apply to— 

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

7 public under a Class C license from the Depart8 ment of Agriculture, or a Federal facility reg9 istered with the Department of Agriculture that 

10 exhibits animals, if such entity or facility holds 

11 such license or registration in good standing 

12 and if the entity or facility— 

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

14 come into direct physical contact with a 

15 prohibited wildlife species, unless that indi16 vidual is— 

17 ‘‘(I) a trained professional em18 ployee or contractor of the entity or 

19 facility (or an accompanying employee 

20 receiving professional training); 

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

22 veterinary student accompanying such 

23 a veterinarian); or 

24 ‘‘(III) directly supporting con25 servation programs of the entity or faVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Feb 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H263.IH H263

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1 cility, the contact is not in the course 

2 of commercial activity (which may be 

3 evidenced by advertisement or pro4 motion of such activity or other rel5 evant evidence), and the contact is in6 cidental to humane husbandry con7 ducted pursuant to a species-specific, 

8 publicly available, peer-edited popu9 lation management and care plan that 

10 has been provided to the Secretary 

11 with justifications that the plan— 

12 ‘‘(aa) reflects established 

13 conservation science principles; 

14 ‘‘(bb) incorporates genetic 

15 and demographic analysis of a 

16 multi-institution population of 

17 animals covered by the plan; and 

18 ‘‘(cc) promotes animal wel19 fare by ensuring that the fre20 quency of breeding is appropriate 

21 for the species; 

22 ‘‘(ii) ensures that during public exhi23 bition of a lion (Panthera leo), tiger 

24 (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera 

25 pardus), snow leopard (Uncia uncia), jagVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Feb 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H263.IH H263

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1 uar (Panthera onca), cougar (Puma 

2 concolor), or any hybrid thereof, the ani3 mal is at least 15 feet from members of 

4 the public unless there is a permanent bar5 rier sufficient to prevent public contact; 

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

7 or a State-licensed veterinarian; 

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

9 prohibited wildlife species, and— 

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

11 from taxation under section 501(a) of the 

12 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and de13 scribed in sections 501(c)(3) and 

14 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of such Code; 

15 ‘‘(ii) does not commercially trade in 

16 any prohibited wildlife species, including 

17 offspring, parts, and byproducts of such 

18 animals; 

19 ‘‘(iii) does not breed any prohibited 

20 wildlife species; 

21 ‘‘(iv) does not allow direct contact be22 tween the public and any prohibited wild23 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 sub18 section (e) of section 3 shall be fined not more than 

19 $20,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, 

20 or both. Each violation shall be a separate offense 

21 and the offense is deemed to have been committed 

22 in the district where the violation first occurred, and 

23 in any district in which the defendant may have 

24 taken or been in possession of the prohibited wildlife 

25 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).’’. 

Æ 


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