Where is the capybara legal?

Any of the following from any area outside the state of Alabama; ...species of skunk, wild rodent, or strain of wild turkey

The largest rodent in the world, and a wild one. Nothing in the rule carves out captive bred stock.

How this rule works: A prohibited list rather than a permitted one, last amended October 2024. Two clauses do most of the work for pet keepers: everything the federal government lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act is banned by reference, and a group of species is banned specifically when it comes from outside Alabama.

The department may not issue a permit for the capture, possession, import, or export of any game animal... for use as a pet

Not on the clean list.

How this rule works: The strictest structure in the country and the clearest. Subsection (a) bars possessing live game without a permit, (b) is a short clean list of species needing no permit, and (c) then removes the escape hatch: the department may not issue a permit for any game animal for use as a pet. So an animal missing from the clean list cannot be kept, permit or not.

How this rule works: § 671(b) defines (D) detrimental and (W) welfare. § 671.1(a) lists permit types; none covers pet keeping. The only possession permit, Animal Care, requires lawful possession in California before January 1992.

wild rodents

Caught by the same wild rodent wording as the prairie dog. Nothing in the rule carves out captive bred stock.

How this rule works: An exotic animal is 'ecologically foreign to Delaware, but allowed for possession, sale, and exhibition if a permit has been issued by the Department', covering live wild mammals, hybrids of wild mammals, and live reptiles not native to the state. A prohibited sublist sits on top, barred to everyone outside parks, zoos, aquariums, museums and research facilities. Administered by the State Veterinarian.

no person shall keep any living member of the animal kingdom as a household pet except

DC works from a closed list of seven permitted categories, one of which is domesticated rodents and rabbits. A capybara is a rodent but not a domesticated one, so it fits no category and is barred by default rather than by name.

How this rule works: Closed list. Seven permitted categories; everything else is barred as a household pet.

Importation: the following wildlife may be imported:

The list clears the chinchilla, the degu, the gerbil, the guinea pig and the greater jerboa. The capybara is not among them.

How this rule works: Browse to Game and Parks Commission, Title 166 Wildlife Regulations, Chapter 8. Two lists that must not be conflated. § 001.01B lists the native wild birds and mammals that may be held under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.08A is a separate closed list of wildlife that may be imported into the state, and a non-native animal missing from it cannot lawfully be brought in.

All large rodents (Rodentia), including ... prairie dog, capybara

How this rule works: § 161.01 is the list of animals that may not be kept in the five boroughs. It binds regardless of what New York State allows, which is why the city and the state answer differently for several species.

Absent from the unregulated list.

How this rule works: 'No license is required for the private possession or purchase of animals, which are included on the unregulated wildlife list or the domestic animal list.' Unregulated does not mean unmonitored: importation rules and local ordinances still apply.

Georgia requires a wild animal licence for listed species, and the rodent entry on that list reaches the capybara. The Department of Natural Resources states on its own exotics page that listed species may not be held as pets, so in practice the licence is not a route for a pet.

South American Rodents. All South American rodents except guinea pigs and chinchillas.

Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris is a South American rodent and is not excepted.

How this rule works: Section 100.01 bars possession of a deleterious exotic animal without a possession permit from the Administrator. Sections 401 to 412 are the list itself, by taxon.

Absent from the exemption list.

How this rule works: A closed exemption list of wild vertebrates that may be imported, sold or possessed without a permit. Anything not exempt needs one. Criteria include no significant ecological risk if released and care no more demanding than a common domesticated pet.

The following wildlife species are exempt from import and export permits, commercial wildlife breeders licenses, noncommercial wildlife breeders licenses and commercial hunting area license requirements

Absent from the exemption list, so a noncommercial wildlife breeder's licence and an import permit apply.

How this rule works: Navigate to Title 800, Chapter 25, Subchapter 25, Section 800:25-25-3. One of the most permissive exemption lists in the country, and one of the very few that names the fennec fox individually. Note what the exemptions are from: permits and breeder licences, not a ban. An unexempt animal is licensable, not prohibited.

no person shall be allowed to import, or possess any animals defined as exotic wild animals or native wild animals without first obtaining a permit from the Department

Not domestic, not native, and not on the § 3.17 exempt list, so the general permit requirement applies. Private ownership permits are available for animals outside the order Carnivora.

How this rule works: One of the most species-specific schemes in the country. § 3.6 defines domestic animals, § 3.7 sets general prohibitions, § 3.9 governs permits, and § 3.17 is the long exempt list of animals that need no exotic animal possession permit. Anything not domestic, not native and not on the § 3.17 list needs a permit.

(v) All members of the order Rodentia from Africa;

The rodent ban is geographic and reaches Africa only, so a South American rodent falls through to the discretionary permit at Section 13(d).

How this rule works: Two closed lists do the work. Domestic animals and domesticated animals are both defined by enumeration, with the phrase for the purpose of this regulation, only the following animals are considered domestic. Anything on neither list is wildlife, and Section 13(d) leaves it to a permit that may be authorised upon approval.

"Domestic animal" means an animal that, through long association with humans, has been bred to a degree that has resulted in genetic changes... The term includes livestock, as defined in 81-2-702, dogs, cats, rodents, Eurasian ferrets, and poultry.

The word rodents is written flatly into the domestic animal definition, which would put every rodent outside the exotic wildlife scheme. The substance of the definition is about animals bred into domestication, which a capybara plainly is not. Nothing classifies it either way.

How this rule works: Montana runs a white list, which is unusual. § 87-5-705(1) says a person may not import, possess or sell any exotic wildlife unless it is allowed by law or commission rule, so an animal that appears on none of the three lists is not permitted rather than unregulated. § 87-5-706 is the statutory noncontrolled list and § 87-5-702 puts rodents, cats, dogs and Eurasian ferrets outside the scheme as domestic animals.

On neither list. Nevada does not state a default for unlisted species in the text read, so this does not resolve either way.

How this rule works: Two lists: 503.110 prohibits, 503.140 names species that may be possessed, transported, imported and exported without a permit. Nevada counties and cities are frequently stricter than the state, notably Clark County, Henderson and Las Vegas.

On neither the non-controlled list nor the controlled table. The Patagonian cavy is listed but the capybara is not, so there is no category that authorises a permit and no exemption either. Ask Fish and Game rather than assuming the silence means yes.

How this rule works: Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, needing no permit. Fis 804.05 is the controlled table, and the number beside each species is the permittee category allowed to hold it. Category 1 is an individual, category 5 is an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be kept by a private person at all.

Group assignment unknown.

How this rule works: Four groups. Group I is semi-domesticated and needs no importation permit; Group IV is 'dangerous, invasive, undesirable, state or federal listed threatened, endangered, a furbearer or any other species of concern' and is barred to the general public, allowed only for scientific study, restoration, zoological display, temporary events, service animals or qualified experts. The operative default: 'Any species of live non-domesticated animal not currently on the species importation list will be designated group IV until such time as another determination is made by the director.' The group assignments themselves live in a separate Director's Species Importation List, roughly 27 pages, which I could not obtain.

"Nontraditional livestock" means any wildlife held in a cage, fence, enclosure, or other manmade means of confinement that limits its movement within definite boundaries

Inside the nontraditional livestock definition, with no rule currently attaching a licence.

How this rule works: The chapter names only three restrictions relevant to pets: skunks and raccoons may not be kept at all, mountain lions and wolves need a tattooed identification number, and the board is to make rules on primates. § 36-01-08.1 says the board may require a licence for nontraditional livestock, meaning any wildlife held in confinement, but the wording is permissive.

the Commissioner shall not issue a permit for the keeping or possession of any wild animal in captivity

Same unresolved question as the prairie dog. The prohibition is broad and the permit route is closed by the regulation, but the text does not say whether captive bred stock of a non-native species is inside or outside it. Ask Fish and Wildlife rather than assuming.

How this rule works: Closed list. § 4709 bars bringing in, transporting or possessing any live wild bird or animal without authorisation. Reg 881: 'the Commissioner shall not issue a permit for the keeping or possession of any wild animal in captivity, except for bona fide scientific or educational purposes' unless the species is designated domestic, a domestic pet, or unrestricted. The Unrestricted Wild Animals List is maintained separately on the department website and was not obtainable.