I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2210 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain interstate conduct 

relating to exotic animals and certain computer-assisted remote hunting, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2011 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. MORAN, Mr. GEORGE MILLER

of California, and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain 

interstate conduct relating to exotic animals and certain 

computer-assisted remote hunting, 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 ‘‘Sportsmanship in 

5 Hunting Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSPORT OR POSSESSION OF EXOTIC ANIMALS 

2 FOR PURPOSES OF KILLING OR INJURING 

3 THEM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 49. Exotic animals 

8 ‘‘(a) CAPTIVE EXOTIC ANIMALS.—Whoever, in or af9 fecting interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly trans10 fers, transports, or possesses a confined exotic animal, for 

11 the purposes of allowing the killing or injuring of that ani12 mal for entertainment or for the collection of a trophy, 

13 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 

14 1 year, or both. 

15 ‘‘(b) COMPUTER-ASSISTED REMOTE HUNTING.— 

16 Whoever, using any instrumentality of interstate or for17 eign commerce, knowingly makes available a computer-as18 sisted remote hunt shall be fined under this title or impris19 oned not more than 5 years, or both. 

20 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.—Providing an instrumentality of 

21 commerce, such as equipment or access to the Internet, 

22 is not a violation of subsection (b) unless the provider has 

23 knowledge that the equipment or access is to be used for 

24 a computer-assisted remote hunt. 

25 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘confined exotic animal’ means a 

2 mammal of a species not indigenous to the United 

3 States that has been held in captivity— 

4 ‘‘(A) the majority of the animal’s life; or 

5 ‘‘(B) a continuous period of 1 year; 

6 ‘‘(2) the term ‘captivity’ does not include any 

7 period during which an animal lives as it would in 

8 the wild— 

9 ‘‘(A) surviving primarily by foraging for 

10 naturally occurring food; 

11 ‘‘(B) roaming at will over an open area of 

12 not less than 1,000 acres; and 

13 ‘‘(C) having the opportunity to avoid hunt14 ers; 

15 ‘‘(3) the term ‘computer-assisted remote hunt’ 

16 means any use of a computer or other device, equip17 ment, or software to allow a person remotely to con18 trol the aiming and discharge of a weapon so as to 

19 kill or injure an animal while not in the physical 

20 presence of the targeted animal; and 

21 ‘‘(4) the term ‘instrumentality of interstate 

22 commerce’ means any written, wire, radio, television, 

23 or other form of communication in, or using a facil24 ity of, interstate commerce. 


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1 ‘‘(e) CONSTRUCTION WITH OTHER LAW.—Nothing 

2 in this section limits the power of State and local authori3 ties to enact laws or regulations concerning computer-as4 sisted remote hunting facilities.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec6 tions at the beginning of chapter 3 of title 18, United 

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing new item: 

‘‘49. Exotic animals.’’. 

Æ 


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