108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 269

AN ACT

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to further

the conservation of certain wildlife species.

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 ‘‘Captive Wildlife Safety

5 Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF PROHIBITED WILDLIFE SPECIES.

2 Section 2 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16

3 U.S.C. 3371) is amended—

4 (1) by redesignating subsections (g) through (j)

5 as subsections (h) through (k), respectively; and

6 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol7 lowing:

8 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITED WILDLIFE SPECIES.—The

9 term ‘prohibited wildlife species’ means—

10 ‘‘(A) any live species of lion, tiger, leopard,

11 cheetah, jaguar, or cougar; and

12 ‘‘(B) any live hybrid of any of those spe13 cies.’’.

14 SEC. 3. PROHIBITED ACTS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Lacey Act

16 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3372) is amended—

17 (1) in subsection (a)—

18 (A) in paragraph (2)—

19 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘,

20 or’’ at the end and inserting a semicolon;

21 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting

22 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon at the end; and

23 (iii) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing:

25 ‘‘(C) any prohibited wildlife species (sub26 ject to subsection (e));’’;
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1 (B) in paragraph (3)(B), by inserting ‘‘or’’

2 after the semicolon at the end; and

3 (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘para4 graphs (1) through (4)’’ and inserting ‘‘para5 graphs (1) through (3)’’; and

6 (2) by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(e) NONAPPLICABILITY OF PROHIBITED WILDLIFE

8 SPECIES OFFENSE.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a)(2)(C) does

10 not apply to—

11 ‘‘(A) any exhibitor or research facility li12 censed or registered and inspected by a Federal

13 agency;

14 ‘‘(B) any sanctuary, humane society, ani15 mal shelter, or society for the prevention of cru16 elty to animals that—

17 ‘‘(i)(I) is an organization described in

18 section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue

19 Code of 1986 that is exempt from taxation

20 under section 501(a) of that Code; and

21 ‘‘(II) is an organization described in

22 section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of that Code;

23 ‘‘(ii) does not engage in commercial

24 trade of animals listed in section 2(k) (in25 cluding any sale of animals, animal parts,
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1 byproducts, or offspring, exhibition of ani2 mals for photograph opportunities, or con3 duct of public events with live animals for

4 financial profit or any other entertainment

5 purpose);

6 ‘‘(iii) does not propagate animals in a

7 facility of the sanctuary, humane society,

8 animal shelter, or society for the preven9 tion of cruelty to animals;

10 ‘‘(iv) does not—

11 ‘‘(I) allow unescorted public visi12 tation or direct contact between the

13 public and wild animals; or

14 ‘‘(II) take animals from a sanc15 tuary or enclosure for exhibition; and

16 ‘‘(v) maintains exceptional standards

17 of animal care;

18 ‘‘(C) any State college, university, or agen19 cy, State-licensed wildlife rehabilitator, or

20 State-licensed veterinarian;

21 ‘‘(D) any federally-licensed and inspected

22 broker or dealer in a case in which the broker

23 or dealer is conducting any brokering or dealing

24 activity with a person referred to in this para25 graph; or
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1 ‘‘(E) any person having custody of a wild

2 animal solely for the purpose of expeditiously

3 transporting the animal to a person referred to

4 in this paragraph.

5 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days

6 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the

7 Secretary, in cooperation with the Director of the

8 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and in

9 consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal

10 agencies, shall promulgate regulations describing the

11 persons or entities to which paragraph (1) applies.

12 ‘‘(3) STATE AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this sub13 section preempts or supersedes the authority of a

14 State to regulate wildlife species within that State.’’.

15 (b) APPLICATION.—Section 3(a)(2)(C) of the Lacey

16 Act Amendments of 1981 (as added by subsection

17 (a)(1)(A)(iii)) shall apply beginning on the effective date

18 of regulations promulgated under section 3(e)(2) of that

19 Act (as added by subsection (a)(2)).

Passed the Senate October 31, 2003.

Attest:

Secretary.
108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 269

AN ACT

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to

further the conservation of certain wildlife species.