Where is the fennec fox legal?

Any of the following from any area outside the state of Alabama; any member of the family Cervidae (to include but not be limited to deer, elk, moose, caribou), species of coyote, species of fox, species of raccoon, species of skunk, wild rodent, or strain of wild turkey, black bear (Ursus americanus), mountain lion (Felis concolor), bobcat (Felis rufus), Pronghorn Antelope (Antelocapridae), any nondomestic member of the families Suidae (pigs), Tayassuidae (peccaries), or Bovidae (except bison).

Species of fox, without qualification. Every fennec fox in the trade comes from outside Alabama, which is the trigger.

How this rule works: Alabama's prohibited list, not a permitted one, so absence from it means an animal is unrestricted. The official code site is a React app that serves nothing to a fetcher, but /api/rule/<number> returns the current rule as a PDF; use it, because Cornell LII's copy is the 2020 version and the current one differs. Two clauses do most of the work: everything the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act is banned by reference, and a block of mammals is banned 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

The only canid on the clean list is Canis familiaris.

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.

Any species of wildlife that is not specifically listed in Chapter W-11 as Domestic or Unregulated or in Chapter W-07 as Appendix A or Appendix B, the species is regulated wildlife and a CPW license is required. CPW will not issue a license for private possession (eg pet) of regulated wildlife.

Not on the domestic animal list, not on the unregulated wildlife list and not on the § 008(B) prohibited list either, which leaves it in the regulated middle. Colorado has no pet licence to issue. Chapter W-11 § 1104 offers commercial wildlife park licences, which require commercial status, and a non-commercial wildlife park licence that § 1104(B)(2) closed to new entrants: it is available only to someone who held one already or held exotic mammals lawfully before 1 January 1983. The chapter introduction states the effect plainly, that "noncommercial (pet) possession of regulated mammals has been prohibited by these regulations since 1983". CPW says the same thing in plainer words on its possession page, that species such as raccoons, skunks, foxes and monkeys are not allowed here even where another state permits them, and that the bar covers interstate transport through Colorado as well.

How this rule works: CPW's own page, with four downloadable lists, herpetofauna, mammals, birds, and fish and marine animals, each row giving a species and the regulation that decides it: Domestic, Unregulated, Appendix A or B, Appendix C, Regulated or Prohibited. Updated 1 May 2026. Not exhaustive, and CPW takes questions on unlisted species by email. This is the agency applying its own rule, which matters most where Appendix A turns on whether a species is native only to the tropics.

"Category One Wild Animal" means, notwithstanding changes in taxonomic nomenclature, any wild animal, gamete or hybrid of any of the following: (A) A member within the family Felidae (including, but not limited to, lion, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, ocelot, jaguarundi cat, puma, lynx and bobcat) except Bengal cat pursuant to section 26-40a of the Connecticut General Statutes; (B) A member within the family Canidae (including, but not limited to, wolf and coyote); (C) A member within the family Ursidae ...; or (D) A member within the family Hominidae ...

Connecticut draws its canid line by family, the same way it draws its cat line, so the fennec fox sits in Category One with the wolf and the coyote. Most states that ban a serval leave the fennec fox alone, because their cat rules are family-wide and their canid rules are species-specific; Connecticut and Oregon are the two on this map that write both by family. The regulation carries one grandfather clause and it is not this one: a primate under 35 pounds at maturity lawfully held on or before 1 October 2003 may be kept on registration, and nothing similar is written for any other category.

How this rule works: Connecticut's official eRegulations text, served as a PDF. This is the operative rule for every animal on this map, and it sorts wild animals into four categories. Category One (four mammal families) and Category Two (a long specific list) may be possessed only by institutions; Category Three, which is Connecticut's own native species, bars import and export but not possession; Category Four, the state endangered, threatened and special concern species, needs a permit. An animal in none of the four is not restricted by this section. The definitions in subsection (a) do more work than the lists: 'wild animal' reaches invertebrates, and 'domestic animal' is defined in a way that takes the pet rabbit and the ferret out of the scheme entirely.

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

None of the seven permitted categories covers a wild canid. DC bans by omission from a closed list, so nothing has to name the fennec fox.

How this rule works: A closed list and one of the shortest in the country. Subsection (j)(1) bars importing, possessing, displaying, selling, trading or giving as a household pet "any living member of the animal kingdom, including those born or raised in captivity", except seven categories: domestic dogs, domestic cats, domesticated rodents and rabbits, captive-bred common cage birds, non-venomous snakes and fish and turtles, ferrets, and racing pigeons. No lizard, no amphibian and no invertebrate fits any of them. Read from the D.C. Code rather than from a reproduction: the seven categories and their exact wording are what every cell in this jurisdiction turns on.

The following wild animals are subject to licensing requirements pursuant to O.C.G.A. Sec. 27-5-4. (a) Mammals ... 3. Order Carnivora (weasels, ferrets, cats, bears, wolves, etc.) - All species, except that European ferret (Mustela putorius furo) may be sold, purchased, exhibited, or held as a pet without a license or permit ... 7. Orders Diprotodontia and Peramelemorphia (Marsupials) - All species except that Petaurus breviceps (sugar glider) may be sold, purchased, exhibited, or held as a pet without a license or permit ... 8. Order Erinaceopmorpha (hedgehogs) - All species ... 10. Order Lagomorpha (Rabbits, hares, etc) - All species ... 16. Order Rodentia (rats, mice, etc.) - All species except Genera Cavia, Chinchilla, Gerbillus, Meriones, Mesocricetus, and species Mus musculus, Rattus rattus, and Rattus norvegicus

Worth reading carefully, because the inherently dangerous list at .04 names four canid genera, Canis, Chrysocyon, Cuon and Lycaon, and Vulpes is not one of them. That does not help. The licence rule at .05 reaches "Order Carnivora (weasels, ferrets, cats, bears, wolves, etc.) - All species", with a single exception written for the European ferret, and the fennec fox is a carnivore. The reason a licence does not help is in the statute rather than the rule. O.C.G.A. § 27-5-4(b)(1) says wild animal licences "will be issued only to persons engaged in the wholesale or retail wild animal business or persons exhibiting wild animals to the public", and permits only for scientific or educational purposes, for a capuchin monkey held by a person with a permanent disability, or to a pond owner for grass carp. There is no pet category anywhere in it, which is why the rule has to write an express pet exception where it wants one, as it does for the European ferret and the sugar glider.

How this rule works: Georgia sorts wild animals into three tiers and none of them is a pet tier. Rule .03 prohibits outright, and its only pet-relevant entry is the monk parakeet. Rule .04 is inherently dangerous animals needing a licence AND liability insurance: all Felidae, four canid genera, bears, hyenas, kangaroos, great apes, crocodilians, the venomous snake families and a short list of fish and scorpions. Rule .05 requires a licence, and it works by taxonomic order rather than by species, which is why it is so wide: all Carnivora, all hedgehogs, all lagomorphs, all marsupials, all primates, and all rodents except six named genera. The thing to read before any of it is O.C.G.A. § 27-5-4(b)(1), because it says who a licence is issued to: the wild animal trade and public exhibitors, plus no-cost permits for science, education, a capuchin monkey for a person with a permanent disability, and grass carp for a pond owner. No pet. So an animal on .04 or .05 is not a permit animal for a keeper, it is a no, and the rule proves it by writing express "may be held as a pet without a license" exceptions for exactly two animals, the European ferret and the sugar glider.

Vulpes (all species in genus)

Part A reaches the whole genus rather than naming the fennec, so Vulpes zerda is covered without appearing by name. Research and exhibition only.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

A member of the family canidae of the order carnivora, including but not limited to wolves, coyotes, and jackals. However, a dangerous wild animal does not include a domestic dog.

Vulpes zerda is a canid, and the only exception written into the paragraph is the domestic dog.

Existing owners: Registration by 31 December 2007 was the only way in. No new route exists.

How this rule works: § 717F.3 bars owning, possessing, breeding or importing a dangerous wild animal. § 717F.1(5) defines the class by family and order rather than by species name, so the boundaries are read off the taxonomy. § 717F.4 grandfathers animals already owned on 1 July 2007.

Fox (Genus Cerdocyon, Genus Lycalopex, Genus Otocyon, Genus Urocyon, and Genus Vulpes);

Vulpes zerda falls in the last genus named. The section bars importing, transporting into Kentucky, and possessing.

How this rule works: Three lists. Section 4(1) is prohibited species, injurious to native ecosystems. Section 4(2) is inherently dangerous exotic wildlife. Section 7 is the permit-exempt list. Anything on none of the three may be possessed, but a transportation permit is needed to bring it into the state. KRS 65.877, cited in the regulation itself, lets local governments prohibit inherently dangerous wildlife outright.

A person may not import into the State, offer for sale, trade, barter, possess, breed, or exchange a live: (i) fox, skunk, raccoon, or bear; (ii) caiman, alligator, or crocodile; (iii) member of the cat family other than the domestic cat; (iv) hybrid of a member of the cat family and a domestic cat if the hybrid weighs over 30 pounds; (v) member of the dog family other than the domestic dog; (vi) hybrid of a member of the dog family and a domestic dog; (vii) nonhuman primate ...; or (viii) poisonous snake in the family groups of Hydrophidae, Elapidae, Viperidae, or Crotolidae.

Caught by the bare word "fox", with no genus qualifier and no carve-out for the fennec, in a clause otherwise aimed at rabies vector species. Maryland also bars the whole dog family other than the domestic dog two clauses later, so the fennec fox would be reached twice over. There is no private permit route. Subsection (e) of § 10-621 preserves stricter county and municipal rules, and Maryland counties use that power, so the local ordinance is worth checking before the state list.

Existing owners: Lawful possession on or before 31 May 2006 may continue, but only if the keeper gave written notification to the local animal control authority by 1 August 2006, with the number and type of animals and a photograph or a description of a tattoo or microchip. That window is long closed.

How this rule works: Maryland's dangerous animal list, on the General Assembly's own site. Eight clauses and nothing else: fox, skunk, raccoon or bear; caiman, alligator or crocodile; any cat other than the domestic cat; a cat hybrid over 30 pounds; any dog other than the domestic dog and any dog hybrid; non-human primates; and venomous snakes of four named families. A misdemeanour, and subsection (e) says in terms that counties and municipalities may go further. Note COMAR 15.11.16.01, titled List of Prohibited Animals, is an agriculture rule about feral swine and is not this provision.

A person may not import into the state, possess, or sell any exotic wildlife unless: (a) the importation, possession, or sale of the exotic wildlife is allowed by law or commission rule

No canid appears on the noncontrolled, controlled or prohibited list, so there is no rule allowing it. ARM 12.6.2225(4)(a) confirms the direction of travel: exotic wildlife may not be imported unless it has been classified.

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.

All species in the genera Vulpes, Fennecus

Named twice over: the fennec fox is Vulpes zerda and the regulation also lists the older genus Fennecus.

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.

5 Fox, Gray; Fenec

Exhibitor only, same as the serval. The table pairs the two common names under one row.

How this rule works: Readopted in full by Document #14558, effective 21 April 2026. Four buckets and a closing rule. Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, Fis 804.03 the prohibited list, Fis 804.05 with Table 800.2 the controlled table, and Fis 804.04(b) then says "All species not specifically listed under the categories of non-controlled, prohibited, or controlled shall be designated as prohibited." Fis 803 runs the same three-way split for importation against Table 800.1. The number beside a species in either table is the permittee category from Fis 802.01: 1 is an individual, 5 an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be held privately. Fis 802.05 is the waiver for unlisted species and subsection (c) closes it to categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, which leaves only exhibitors.

Carnivora Canidae--Nondomestic dogs / Ursidae--Bears / Felidae--Nondomestic cats ... The potentially dangerous species shall not be kept as a pet, for hobby purposes or in situations, which, in the judgment of the Department, could adversely affect the health of the animal or which could constitute a hazard to the public.

The fennec is Vulpes zerda, a canid and not a domestic dog, so "Canidae--Nondomestic dogs" takes it whole. New Jersey draws no line by size or temperament here, which matters because the fennec is a three pound animal being handled by the same clause as a wolf. The permit at 4.8(b) is not a way in: 4.9(a)3 bars keeping a potentially dangerous species as a pet or for hobby purposes, and the Division's notice says such species may only be held on zoological holding, scientific holding and animal exhibitor permits.

How this rule works: NJDEP's own courtesy copy of the whole of N.J.A.C. 7:25. Subchapter 4 starts at 7:25-4.1 and carries the definitions, the permit requirement at 4.2, the three species lists at 4.3, 4.4 and 4.8, the pet bar at 4.9(a)3 and 4.15(b), and the state endangered list at 4.13. The three list PDFs the Division hands out are extracts of this.

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 fennec fox appears nowhere on the Director's list, and New Mexico's default clause is the operative rule: an unlisted live non-domesticated animal is designated group IV until the director decides otherwise. Resolved from a previous unclear entry now that the list is in hand. Group IV importation is prohibited for the general public and allowed only for scientific study, department approved restoration, zoological display, temporary events, use as a service animal, or by a qualified expert. One caveat on all of this: 19.35.7 NMAC is an importation rule, its stated scope being persons who desire to bring wildlife species into New Mexico, so it governs getting the animal here rather than keeping one already in the state.

How this rule works: The roughly 1,300 row table that 19.35.7 NMAC points at and that earlier research could not obtain. Every row gives a family, a scientific name, a common name and a roman numeral group. Group I is semi-domesticated and needs no importation permit. Group II is not known to be invasive or dangerous and needs a permit. Group III presents minimal or manageable concerns and needs a permit with specific provisions attached. Group IV is prohibited to the general public. The list is reached from the download page rather than a direct file URL, and the site needs a User-Agent header.

No person shall sell or give to another person, possess, harbor, keep, or yard wild or other animals identified in this section ... other than in: (i) a zoological park or aquarium ...; or (ii) a laboratory ...; or (iii) a veterinary hospital ...; or (iv) a temporary exhibit, performance or display that has been issued a permit by the Commissioner. ... For the purposes of this Code, a wild animal is deemed to be any animal which is naturally inclined to do harm and capable of inflicting harm upon human beings and all such animals are hereby prohibited ... Such animals shall also include: (i) any animals specified by the Commissioner in regulations ...; (ii) any native or exotic wildlife whose possession or sale is prohibited because they are designated as protected or endangered pursuant to any federal, state or local law, regulation, or rule; and (iii) any of the following animals:

Named outright. The clause is "All dogs other than domesticated dogs (Canis familiaris), including, but not limited to, wolf, fox, coyote, hyaena, dingo, jackal, dhole, fennec, raccoon dog, zorro, bush dog, aardwolf, cape hunting dog", so the fennec appears both as a fox and by its own name. New York State expressly excepts captive bred fennec foxes from its Canidae ban; the city does not, which is one of the sharpest state-versus-city splits on this map. § 161.01(d) is worth knowing alongside the prohibition: a prohibited animal may be seized by any authorized city employee, the owner has three business days to request a hearing, and with the Department's written consent the animal may be removed to a jurisdiction where it is not prohibited. That last provision is the closest thing to relief in the article.

How this rule works: A city rule that is stricter than any state on this map, and it works in three layers. It opens with a standard rather than a list, deeming a wild animal to be "any animal which is naturally inclined to do harm and capable of inflicting harm upon human beings". It then adds, at (b)(ii), any wildlife protected or endangered under federal, STATE or local law, which imports New York State's protected wildlife scheme into the city wholesale. And it closes with 24 numbered clauses that work mostly by family: all cats other than Felis catus and their hybrids, all dogs other than Canis familiaris, all Mustelidae including the ferret by name, all squirrels, all marsupials, all large rodents, all Boidae, all Pythonidae, all Varanidae, all Iguanidae, all teiidae, all Chelydridae, all venomous spiders including the tarantula by name, and all turtles under four inches. § 161.01(c) is the short answer to what is left: gerbil, hamster, guinea pig, domesticated rabbit, and small birds such as parakeet, parrot, canary and finch.

Any nonwolf member of the family Canidae not indigenous to Oregon, except the species Canis familiaris (domestic dog)

Oregon writes its canid clause the same way as its cat clause, by family with one species excepted, so the fennec fox is an exotic animal on its family membership alone. Most states that ban a serval leave a fennec fox alone, because their cat rules are drawn by family and their canid rules by species; Oregon draws both by family, which is why the two land together here. The permit window closed in 2010 and was never reopened. Oregon cities and counties may prohibit exotic animals by ordinance on top of state law, so check the municipality as well.

Existing owners: A State Department of Agriculture permit issued before 1 January 2010, or issued within a year of that date on proof the animal was already held. Applications closed 90 days after 1 January 2010, breeding a permitted animal is barred, and possession ends 30 days after a permit lapses.

How this rule works: A five-line closed definition run by the Department of Agriculture: non-indigenous Felidae except Felis catus, non-human primates, non-wolf non-indigenous Canidae except the domestic dog, bears other than the black bear, and Crocodylia. § 609.341 bars keeping one without a permit and § 609.351 shut the application window, which was 90 days after 1 January 2010, or one year for an animal already held then. There is no hybrid clause anywhere in it. This statute answers cats, canids and crocodilians only; every other animal on this map is decided by the ODFW rules in OAR 635-056.

no permits shall be granted by the Department to a private person authorizing the import, and/or possession of any exotic wild animals of the order Carnivora, or hybrids thereof, for which there is no USDA conditionally licensed or unconditionally licensed rabies vaccine

Same closed door as the serval. Fennec foxes are canids with no licensed rabies vaccine.

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.

The following species are exempt from Codes 09.02 (Possession Of Non-Native Wildlife In Captivity Restricted), 09.07 (Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit Required), and 09.10 (Wildlife Importation Permit Required)

The unrestricted mammal list has one carnivore, the European domestic ferret, plus wolf and dog hybrids. The fennec is on neither.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Unless specifically exempt from the permitting requirement as presented in regulation 6.1, all persons who would own or have custody of an exotic animal must first obtain a permit issued by the Department.

The fennec fox is a live wild mammal and is not on the exempt list, so regulation 6.2 requires an Individual permit. The permit is a $25 Individual permit from the Department of Agriculture, issued where possession will be in the public interest, so this is a real route rather than a closed door. Delaware's outright refusals at 4.7 are only the gila monster, the beaded lizard and the komodo dragon, so no mammal is barred from permitting by name. County and municipal ordinances are the more likely obstacle for a cat or a canid of this size.

How this rule works: The regulation that actually decides Delaware, and it is much narrower than the list circulating in secondary sources. § 7201 requires a permit before anyone brings in, possesses, sells or exhibits a live wild mammal, a hybrid of a wild mammal, or a live reptile not native to Delaware, and bans non-native venomous snakes outright with no permit available. Regulation 6.1 then exempts a named list of pets from the permit entirely, and 6.2 says everything else needs one. The only species the State Veterinarian may not permit at all are at 4.7: gila monsters, beaded lizards and komodo dragons. Pythons, anacondas and boas appear only at 7.5.2.10, a restriction on what Sales Permit holders may breed, not a possession ban. The Delaware regulations site is a single-page app that serves no text to a fetcher, so this was read from a full reproduction and cross-checked against the Department of Agriculture's own exotic animals page.

Class III: All other wildlife not listed herein, except those for which a permit is not required pursuant to Rule 68A-6.003, F.A.C. ... Hybrids resulting from the cross between wildlife and domestic animal, which are substantially similar in size, characteristics and behavior so as to be indistinguishable from the wild animal shall be regulated as wildlife at the higher and more restricted class of the wild parent.

Class III in Florida is a residual category, "all other wildlife not listed herein, except those for which a permit is not required", and the fennec fox lands in it by not being anywhere else. That means a Permit to Possess Class III Wildlife for Personal Use, which costs nothing, runs two years, and requires the applicant to be 16. The thing to notice is what it is not on: 68A-6.003(14) exempts 22 categories from any permit at all, and this animal is not among them. Worth reading carefully, because Class II item 24 says "Wolves, coyotes, jackals (family Canidae)" and the parenthetical would sweep in every fox. FWC does not read it that way: its own personal pet page lists "fox" among the common Class III species requiring a permit, alongside the raccoon, the coatimundi and the wallaby. So the answer is the free permit rather than the $140 one, on the agency's reading of its own rule.

How this rule works: Florida sorts all wildlife into three classes and then exempts a list from the scheme entirely, and the exemption list is what most pet questions turn on. 68A-6.002 puts 24 taxa in Class I, which 68A-6.003(6) says may not be possessed for personal use at all, and 38 in Class II, which needs a $140 annual permit plus documented experience and caging. Class III is everything else, and 68A-6.003(8) requires a no-cost personal use permit for it. Then 68A-6.003(14) lists 22 categories needing no permit at all, and that list is the answer for most of this map: nonvenomous unprotected reptiles and amphibians, gerbils, hedgehogs, sugar gliders, rabbits, squirrels, ferrets, guinea pigs, hamsters, prairie dogs, chinchillas and parrots among them. Read the class lists without 68A-6.003(14) and Florida looks like a permit state for a bearded dragon. Read (14) without the class lists and it looks like a free-for-all for a capybara.

All Non-native Canidae Species.

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.

Carnivora (Carnivores) Mustela putorius furo Domestic Ferret

Maine's entire unrestricted carnivore list is one animal, the domestic ferret. Every other carnivore, the fennec included, needs a permit.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

The purpose of 321 CMR 9.01 is to list those species which are exempt from the licensing provisions of M.G.L. c. 131, § 23, and which may be imported, possessed, maintained, propagated, bought, sold, exchanged or offered for sale without a license or permit from the Division. Species not listed, or which are expressly listed as "require(s) a permit", are not exempt from the provisions of M.G.L. c. 131, § 23.

The mammal exemption list is thirteen entries and the fennec fox is not one of them, which in a closed-list state is the whole answer. 9.01(1) says species not listed "are not exempt from the provisions of M.G.L. c. 131, § 23", and 9.02(2)(c) adds that any vertebrate taxon not on the domestic list is presumed wild. No canid of any kind appears on either list, wild or otherwise, apart from the domestic dog. MassWildlife's own guidance is blunt about what that means in practice: permits for non-exempt wildlife "are issued only for certain scientific, educational, commercial, or other specific reasons" and "You will not be issued a permit for keeping a wild animal as a pet." The statute is less absolute, since § 23 contemplates "an individual license for an animal that is not on the special exemption list" and even sets a preference for captive-bred animals where wild depletion is an issue, so the licence exists on paper and the agency says it will not grant one for a pet.

How this rule works: Massachusetts runs a closed white list and says so in terms: a species not on it, or listed as requiring a permit, is not exempt from M.G.L. c. 131, § 23. Two structural points decide most of this state. First, 9.01(2) defines "species" as a "distinct non-domestic VERTEBRATE animal population", and § 23 itself reaches only fish, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, so terrestrial invertebrates are outside the scheme entirely. Second, 9.01(3) is a categorical override that most readings of this rule miss: no species may be exempted if it is listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, appears in the IUCN Red Book(s), or is on the Massachusetts endangered, threatened and special concern list at 321 CMR 10.90. Nearly every group listing in 9.01 repeats the cross-reference, so it operates as a live carve-out rather than as drafting furniture, and it is what pulls the Burmese python out of Boidae, the crested gecko out of Gekkonidae and the box turtle out of the turtle allowance.

a furbearer, a member of the family Cervidae, a nondomestic member of the families Suidae (pigs), Tayassuidae (peccaries), Bovidae (bison, mountain goat, mountain sheep), coyote, bear, or turkey (genus Meleagris). Furbearer includes, but is not limited to, red and gray fox, raccoon, opossum, muskrat, mink, skunk, otter, bobcat, weasel, and beaver;

The furbearer list is open ended and names fox. Bringing one into South Carolina needs a Department of Natural Resources permit.

How this rule works: § 50-16-20 requires a permit to bring in certain groups of live wildlife, chiefly furbearers, cervids, pigs, bovids, coyote, bear and turkey. § 50-16-60 then exempts a named list of pet trade animals from even that.

(1) Of the order Carnivora, all nondomestic members of the following families: ...(b) Canidae;

How this rule works: Two separate requirements sit in the same chapter and are easy to conflate. An entry permit, free and obtainable by telephone, is required to import any nondomestic animal. A possession permit, ten dollars per animal, is required only for the mammal families listed in 12:68:18:03. The only outright prohibition is the raccoon dog.

Fennec fox - Vulpes zerda

Controlled rather than prohibited, so a certificate of registration is required before collection, importation or possession, but a route exists. Same column as the bobcat and the two-toed sloth.

How this rule works: Five sections: domestic mammals and birds not covered by the rule, noncontrolled mammals and birds, controlled mammals, and prohibited mammals. The header sets an inverted default: 'Except as otherwise listed, all species are presumed prohibited. All species not listed will require an assessment before collection, importation, or possession will be authorized.' The prohibited section adds that 'personal possession will not be authorized'.

Species not found on the Restricted, Unrestricted or Domestic species lists are considered Restricted.

The fennec fox is on neither the Unrestricted nor the Restricted list, and Vermont treats that absence as a restriction rather than a gap. No canid of any kind appears on the Unrestricted list. A permit exists on paper but not for a pet: Regulation 881 says the Commissioner shall not issue a permit for keeping or possessing a wild animal in captivity except for bona fide scientific or educational purposes. So restricted here means a private keeper cannot have one, not that there is paperwork to fill in.

How this rule works: The list the whole Vermont answer turns on, and the one earlier research could not obtain. Anything on it may be kept with no permit. Its closing line is the important part: species not found on the Restricted, Unrestricted or Domestic species lists are considered Restricted, which makes Vermont an inverted-list state like Hawaii. Several entries are marked Captive Bred Only, which is a real condition rather than a note. The site refuses automated requests without a User-Agent header.

Canidae All Species Wild Dogs, Wolves, Coyotes or Coyote hybrids, Jackals and Foxes

Virginia restricts the whole dog family by name and spells out foxes in the common name column, so the fennec is caught by the same row as a jackal.

How this rule works: Virginia permits by table. Subsection A requires a special permit from the department for every animal listed in it, on the ground that the board has declared the species predatory or undesirable because releasing it would harm Virginia's native fish and wildlife. Subsection B grandfathers asterisked animals held before 1 July 1992 if they were declared in writing by 1 January 1993, renewable every five years and not transferable. Subsection C then carves the monk parakeet back out.

A permit may be authorized upon approval for other warm-blooded wildlife unless otherwise specified in this regulation.

Wyoming's prohibited list names the gray wolf, the red wolf and wolf hybrids but no fox.

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.

All species of the order Carnivora

How this rule works: The operative rule. Restricted live wildlife needs a special licence, and the lists run by order and family rather than by species, so the whole of Carnivora is caught while most of the pet reptile trade is not. Two exceptions are written in by name: the genus Atelerix, the pet hedgehogs, and the genus Oryctolagus, which the rule says are not wildlife at all. Two subsections do quiet work: (D) exempts domestic animals, defined at R12-4-401 as a species that does not exist in the wild, and (E) pulls hybrids back in whenever one parent species is on the list. Note that the AZGFD commission rules PDF circulating as Supp. 13-2 is a 2013 edition and predates the Atelerix and Oryctolagus exceptions; read the current text, not that one.

Family Canidae-All species (W)

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.

The board of animal health may require a license for nontraditional livestock maintained within this state.

Same gap as the serval. Note that the statute bans skunks and raccoons outright and singles out wolves for tattooing, so foxes sit between the two and are named in neither.

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. The wording is permissive but the board has used it: see NDAC article 48.1-09 for the three categories and the licence, and § 36-01-00.1(3) for a definition of domestic animal that runs only to dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, bison, farmed elk, llamas, alpacas and swine.

In the family Canidae . Species and subspecies of the coyote, the red and gray fox and a full-blooded wolf or crossbreed thereof not licensed by the Department of Agriculture.

The Canidae line is species-specific and reaches only the coyote, the red fox, the gray fox and the wolf. The fennec fox is none of them. What arguably reaches it instead is the catch-all at § 137.1(a)(11) barring possession of wildlife captive bred in another state, since 34 Pa.C.S. § 102 makes every mammal but livestock a wild animal. Same agency interpretation that bans hedgehogs and sugar gliders, and no Pennsylvania text names the fennec fox, so this is recorded unclear rather than banned.

How this rule works: The Game Commission's actual prohibited list, and the document most Pennsylvania exotic pet questions turn on rather than the § 2961 definition. Eleven categories, of which three matter most here: all Felidae except house cats, the monk parakeet by name, and a catch-all barring possession of any wildlife held in captivity or captive bred in another state or nation.

Class I--This class includes all species inherently dangerous to humans. ... The following is a listing of animals considered inherently dangerous: (A) Mammals: (i) Primates--Gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, gibbons, siamangs, mandrills, drills, baboons, Gelada baboons; (ii) Carnivores: (a) Wolves--All species; (b) Bears--All species; and (c) Lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, cougars--All species;

The only canids in Class I are the wolves, "all species", and the fennec fox is a Vulpes rather than a Canis. Tennessee names no fox anywhere in the classification, which is a real contrast with Maryland, where the bare word "fox" is the whole of the ban. On the statute alone the fennec fox is Class III under the catch-all and needs no permit. What could not be checked is the commission's own rules. Section 70-4-403(1) gives the commission, with the commissioner of agriculture, express power to add or delete species from the Class I list by regulation, and Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1660-01-18 is where such an addition would sit. That chapter could not be read here: publications.tnsosfiles.com returns 403 to this container on every path, and Tennessee's official code is behind LexisNexis. Recorded unclear on that gap rather than on the statute, which is the improvement over the previous note here; the statute itself is readable and does not reach this animal. What rides on it is more than paperwork. Section 70-4-404(c)(1) closed personal possession of Class I wildlife in 1991: the permit it describes is for people who already held the animal on 25 June 1991, "no new animals shall be brought into possession under authority of a personal possession permit", and the subsection ends by saying it "shall not be construed to authorize new personal possession of Class I wildlife". TWRA restates it in one line on its permits page: "Personal possession of any Class 1 species is not allowed." So an addition by rule would not mean a $150 permit for a private keeper. It would mean no.

How this rule works: Five classes. Class I is a specific list of inherently dangerous animals, possessable only by zoos, circuses and commercial propagators. Class II is "native species, except those listed in other classes". Class III "requires no permits except those required by the department of agriculture, and includes all species not listed in other classes", followed by seventeen illustrative subdivisions. Class IV is black bear, white-tailed deer and wild turkey; Class V is whatever the commission designates as injurious. The catch-all sitting at Class III rather than Class II is what makes Tennessee permissive, and the exception clause in Class II is what keeps native reptiles out of it. Tennessee's official code is behind LexisNexis and publications.tnsosfiles.com refuses this container, so the wording here was taken from two independent reproductions that agree: animallaw.info, which carries the current post-2024 text, and lawserver.com, whose copy is marked effective until 1 July 2024 and differs only in the snake clause, which the 2024 amendment changed from "poisonous" to "venomous".