I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1818 

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 

MARCH 30, 2017 

Mr. DENHAM (for himself, Mr. JONES, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. LOBIONDO, 

Mr. GAETZ, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. ROSS, and Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio) 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 and that holds such license 

9 in good standing, if the entity— 

10 ‘‘(i) has not been, and does not em11 ploy any person engaged in animal care 

12 who has been, convicted of or fined for an 

13 offense involving the abuse or neglect of 

14 any animal pursuant to any State, local, or 

15 Federal law; 

16 ‘‘(ii) has not had, and does not em17 ploy any person who has had, a license or 

18 permit regarding the care, possession, exhi19 bition, breeding, or sale of animals revoked 

20 or suspended by any State, local, or Fed21 eral agency, including the Department of 

22 Agriculture, within the preceding 3-year 

23 period; 

24 ‘‘(iii) has not been cited by the De25 partment of Agriculture under the Animal 


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1 Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) within 

2 the preceding 12-month period for any re3 peat violation for— 

4 ‘‘(I) inadequate veterinary care; 

5 ‘‘(II) handling that causes stress 

6 or trauma or a threat to public safety; 

7 ‘‘(III) insufficient provisions of 

8 food or water; or 

9 ‘‘(IV) failure to allow facility in10 spection; 

11 ‘‘(iv) does not allow any individual 

12 other than a trained professional employee 

13 or contractor of the licensee (or an accom14 panying employee receiving professional 

15 training) or a licensed veterinarian (or an 

16 accompanying veterinary student) to come 

17 into direct physical contact with a prohib18 ited wildlife species; 

19 ‘‘(v) ensures that during public exhi20 bition of a lion (Panthera leo), tiger 

21 (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera 

22 pardus), snow leopard (Uncia uncia), jag23 uar (Panthera onca), cougar (Puma 

24 concolor), or any hybrid thereof, the ani25 mal is at least 15 feet from members of 


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1 the public unless there is a permanent bar2 rier that prevents public contact or risk of 

3 contact; 

4 ‘‘(vi) does not breed any prohibited 

5 wildlife species unless the breeding is con6 ducted pursuant to a species-specific, pub7 licly available, peer-reviewed population 

8 management plan developed according to 

9 established conservation science principles; 

10 ‘‘(vii) maintains liability insurance in 

11 an amount of not less than $250,000 for 

12 each occurrence of property damage, bodily 

13 injury, or death caused by any prohibited 

14 wildlife species possessed by the person; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(viii) has a written plan that is made 

17 available to local law enforcement, State 

18 agencies and Federal agencies on request, 

19 for the quick and safe recapture or de20 struction of prohibited wildlife species in 

21 the event a prohibited wildlife species es22 capes, including, but not limited to, written 

23 protocols for training staff on methods of 

24 safe recapture of the escaped prohibited 

25 wildlife species; 


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

2 or State-licensed veterinarian; 

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

4 prohibited wildlife species, and— 

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

6 from taxation under section 501(a) of the 

7 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and de8 scribed in sections 501(c)(3) and 

9 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of such Code; 

10 ‘‘(ii) does not commercially trade in 

11 prohibited wildlife species, including off12 spring, parts, and byproducts of such ani13 mals; 

14 ‘‘(iii) does not breed the prohibited 

15 wildlife species; 

16 ‘‘(iv) does not allow direct contact be17 tween the public and prohibited wildlife 

18 species; and 

19 ‘‘(v) does not allow the transportation 

20 and display of prohibited wildlife species 

21 off-site; 

22 ‘‘(D) has custody of the prohibited wildlife 

23 species solely for the purpose of expeditiously 

24 transporting the prohibited wildlife species to a 


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1 person described in this paragraph with respect 

2 to the species; or 

3 ‘‘(E) an entity or individual that is in pos4 session of a prohibited wildlife species that was 

5 born before the date of the enactment of the 

6 Big Cat Public Safety Act, and— 

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

8 date of the enactment of the Big Cat Pub9 lic Safety Act, the entity or individual reg10 isters each individual animal of each pro11 hibited wildlife species with the United 

12 States Fish and Wildlife Service; 

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

14 any prohibited wildlife species after the 

15 date of the enactment of such Act; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) does not allow direct contact be17 tween the public and prohibited wildlife 

18 species.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 

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

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

22 amended— 

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

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


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

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

3 amended— 

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

5 after ‘‘(d),’’; 

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

7 after ‘‘(d),’’; 

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

9 ‘‘(d),’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘(4) Any person who knowingly violates sub12 section (e) of section 3 shall be fined not more than 

13 $20,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, 

14 or both. Each violation shall be a separate offense 

15 and the offense shall be deemed to have been com16 mitted not only in the district where the violation 

17 first occurred, but also in any district in which the 

18 defendant may have taken or been in possession of 

19 the prohibited wildlife species.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. FORFEITURE OF PROHIBITED WILDLIFE SPECIES. 

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

22 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3374(a)(1)) is amended by inserting 

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


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1 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION. 

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

3 (16 U.S.C. 3376(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

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

6 other relevant Federal and State agencies, promul7 gate any regulations necessary to implement section 

8 3(e).’’. 

Æ 


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