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# Injurious Wildlife Listings - Keeping Risky Wildlife Species Out of the United States

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                -  Injurious Wildlife Listings - Keeping Risky Wildlife Species Out of the United States
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## What We Do

#### Our Laws and Regulations

To protect from high-risk species that may cause harm to interests of the United States, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has the authority from Congress to prohibit the importation and some transport of certain types of wildlife through the federal regulatory process. Those species are called injurious. Once a species is added to the list of injurious wildlife, it may not be imported into the United States or transported between the continental United States, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any possession of the United States without a permit.

#### Injurious species can harm our environment, industries, and health.

Wildlife species from around the world are frequently imported into the United States or find their way by unintentionally stowing aboard vessels, aircraft, and vehicles. People import all types of live wildlife for a variety of purposes, including as pets, for consumption, in ornamental ponds, and for research. Sometimes the animals escape into the wild from captivity or sometimes people intentionally release them. A small percent of introduced species may survive, reproduce, and become invasive.

#### An injurious species listing can prevent harm.

Preventing the introduction of new harmful species is the only way to fully avoid impacts of injurious species on local, regional, and national economies and infrastructure, and on the natural resources of the United States. History has shown that preventing the importation of high-risk invasive species **invasive species**** An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.  Learn more about invasive species  into the United States before they become established is an efficient and effective way to prevent species invasions that would ultimately burden the American people

#### Injurious wildlife listings are authorized under title 18 of the Lacey Act.

Injurious wildlife listing began in 1900 and continues to the present under the oldest national invasive species law in the United States. Known as part of the Lacey Act, the statute (**18 U.S.C. 42**) allows the Secretary of the Interior to prohibit importation and some shipment of wildlife species that are officially designated as injurious. 

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## Latest Stories and Topics

Wildlife ManagementThe unsung success of injurious wildlife listing under the Lacey ActPrevious papers discussing the effectiveness of injurious wildlife listings under 18 U.S.C. 42(a) of the Lacey Act have emphasized failures while ignoring the many successes. We looked at the 120-year history of injurious listing and then determined the effectiveness of the listings since the U.S....Oct 18, 2021

Wildlife ManagementA century of injurious wildlife listing under the Lacey Act: a history In its 120-year history, the major injurious wildlife provision of the Lacey Act has remained nearly intact. The purpose of the Federal law has always been to protect the United States from the introduction of invasive and otherwise harmful species. Amendments along the way have transformed the law...Oct 18, 2021

Wildlife ManagementInjurious Listings Protect Native WildlifeYou may have never heard of the injurious wildlife provision of the Lacey Act. And when it’s working its best, you’ll never see the species it targets.Aug 27, 2021

Get InvolvedWhat is an aquatic invasive species?An aquatic invasive species is a freshwater or marine organism that has spread or been introduced beyond its native range and is either causing harm or has the potential to cause harm.Aug 3, 2021

Wildlife ManagementEcological Risk Screening SummariesAn Ecological Risk Screening Summary, or Risk Summary, provides a rapid evaluation of a species’ potential invasiveness.Aug 3, 2021

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## Our Services

#### Permits are needed to import and transport injurious wildlife, but they may only be approved for zoological, educational, medical, and scientific purposes. 

*Interstate transport requirements changed on April 7, 2017, when the D.C. Circuit held that 18 U.S.C. § 42(a)(1) does not prohibit transport of injurious wildlife between States within the continental United States. Please see our guidance on the court decision regarding interstate transport: **Injurious Wildlife Implications for USARK v. Zinke***

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## Our Library

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Understanding Injurious Wildlife Regulations 

The List of Injurious Wildlife

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