H. R. 263 

One Hundred Seventeenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-two 

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. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

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

1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371) is amended— 

(1) by redesignating subsections (a) through (k) as subsections (b) through (l), respectively; and 

(2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so redesignated) 

the following: 

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

or reproduction (whether intentionally or negligently), or to fail 

to prevent propagation or reproduction.’’. 

(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

(1) CONSOLIDATED FARM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT ACT.— 

Section 349(a)(3) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1997(a)(3)) is amended— 

(A) by striking ‘‘section 2(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

2’’; and 

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

(2) LACEY ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1981.—Section 7(c) of the 

Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3376(c)) is amended 

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

SEC. 3. PROHIBITIONS. 

Section 3 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 

3372) is amended— 

(1) in subsection (a)— 

(A) in paragraph (2)— 

(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking the semicolon 

at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

(ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and 

inserting a semicolon; and 

(iii) by striking subparagraph (C); and 

(B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(1) through (3)’’ and 

inserting ‘‘(1) through (3) or subsection (e)’’; and 

(2) by amending subsection (e) to read as follows: 

‘‘(e) CAPTIVE WILDLIFE OFFENSE.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), 

it is unlawful for any person to— 

‘‘(A) import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, 

or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce, or in a 

manner substantially affecting interstate or foreign commerce; or 

‘‘(B) breed or possess; 

any prohibited wildlife species. 

‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—Paragraph (1) does not 

apply to— 

‘‘(A) an entity exhibiting animals to the public under 

a Class C license from the Department of Agriculture, 

or a Federal facility registered with the Department of 

Agriculture that exhibits animals, if such entity or facility 

holds such license or registration in good standing and 

if the entity or facility— 

‘‘(i) does not allow any individual to come into 

direct physical contact with a prohibited wildlife species, unless that individual is— 

‘‘(I) a trained professional employee or contractor of the entity or facility (or an accompanying 

employee receiving professional training); 

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

student accompanying such a veterinarian); or 

‘‘(III) directly supporting conservation programs of the entity or facility, the contact is not 

in the course of commercial activity (which may 

be evidenced by advertisement or promotion of 

such activity or other relevant evidence), and the 

contact is incidental to humane husbandry conducted pursuant to a species-specific, publicly 

available, peer-edited population management and 

care plan that has been provided to the Secretary 

with justifications that the plan— 

‘‘(aa) reflects established conservation 

science principles; 

‘‘(bb) incorporates genetic and demographic analysis of a multi-institution population of animals covered by the plan; and 

‘‘(cc) promotes animal welfare by ensuring 

that the frequency of breeding is appropriate 

for the species; and 

‘‘(ii) ensures that during public exhibition of a 

lion (Panthera leo), tiger (Panthera tigris), leopard 

(Panthera pardus), snow leopard (Uncia uncia), jaguar 

(Panthera onca), cougar (Puma concolor), or any hybrid 

thereof, the animal is at least 15 feet from members 

of the public unless there is a permanent barrier sufficient to prevent public contact; 

‘‘(B) a State college, university, or agency, or a Statelicensed veterinarian; 

‘‘(C) a wildlife sanctuary that cares for prohibited wildlife species, and— 

‘‘(i) is a corporation that is exempt from taxation 

under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code 

of 1986 and described in sections 501(c)(3) and 

170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of such Code; 
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‘‘(ii) does not commercially trade in any prohibited 

wildlife species, including offspring, parts, and 

byproducts of such animals; 

‘‘(iii) does not breed any prohibited wildlife species; 

‘‘(iv) does not allow direct contact between the 

public and any prohibited wildlife species; and 

‘‘(v) does not allow the transportation and display 

of any prohibited wildlife species off-site; 

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

solely for the purpose of expeditiously transporting the 

prohibited wildlife species to a person described in this 

paragraph with respect to the species; or 

‘‘(E) an entity or individual that is in possession of 

any prohibited wildlife species that was born before the 

date of the enactment of the Big Cat Public Safety Act, 

and— 

‘‘(i) not later than 180 days after the date of the 

enactment of the such Act, the entity or individual 

registers each individual animal of each prohibited 

wildlife species possessed by the entity or individual 

with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 

‘‘(ii) does not breed, acquire, or sell any prohibited 

wildlife species after the date of the enactment of such 

Act; and 

‘‘(iii) does not allow direct contact between the 

public and prohibited wildlife species.’’. 

SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 

(a) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 4(a)(1) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(a)(1)) is amended— 

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

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

(b) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Section 4(d) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(d)) is amended— 

(1) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘(e),’’ after ‘‘(d),’’; 

(2) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘(e),’’ after ‘‘(d),’’; 

(3) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘(e),’’ after ‘‘(d),’’; and 

(4) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(4) Any person who knowingly violates section 3(e) shall 

be fined not more than $20,000, or imprisoned for not more 

than 5 years, or both. Each violation shall be a separate offense 

and the offense is deemed to have been committed in the 

district where the violation first occurred, and in any district 

in which the defendant may have taken or been in possession 

of the prohibited wildlife species.’’. 

SEC. 5. FORFEITURE OF PROHIBITED WILDLIFE SPECIES. 

Section 5(a)(1) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 

3374(a)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘bred, possessed,’’ before 

‘‘imported, exported,’’. 

SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION. 

Section 7(a) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 

3376(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(3) The Secretary shall, in consultation with other relevant 

Federal and State agencies, promulgate any regulations necessary to implement section 3(e).’’. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.