Where is the ring-tailed lemur legal?
Lemur catta. Restricted in 39 of the 52 jurisdictions checked. Every entry quotes the rule it comes from.
Interactive map
How to use this page
- Click or tap any state to see the rule behind its colour, the citation, and a link to the regulation itself. Tap it again to clear it. By keyboard, tab to a state and press Enter or space.
- The answer appears directly under the map on a phone, and in the panel beside it on a wider screen. Alaska, Hawaii and DC sit out of position so they stay clickable. City rules, New York City among them, cannot be shaded on a state map at all and are in the list below.
- Every restriction is written out below the map, one row per state. Open a row for the wording of the rule. That list is the same information as the map, in a form you can search with find-on-page.
- The chips at the foot of the page switch animals, grouped by kind and A to Z within each group. The map, the list and the counts all follow whichever one is selected.
- On the colours: flat gray was read and had no rule, dotted was never read for this animal, and hatched means the rule does not resolve either way. The first two are easy to confuse and mean very different things.
Select a state for the rule behind its colour. Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia are drawn out of position so they can be clicked. The counts include New York City, which has rules separate from the surrounding state and so cannot be shaded on a state map. Listed in full below.
What the colours mean
- Banned (30)No legal way to keep one, and no permit to apply for.
- Permit required (7)Legal, but you need a permit or license before the animal arrives.
- Conditions apply (2)Legal without a permit only if a stated condition is met, such as a generation, a size or an indoor-only rule.
- UnclearThe rule genuinely does not resolve for this animal. Ask the agency before relying on it.
- No restriction found (13)This jurisdiction was read for this animal and nothing in it restricts one.
- Not checked yetWe have not read this jurisdiction for this animal. It is not a clean bill of health, it is a gap.
Choose an animal (82 of them)
Reptiles
Amphibians
Small mammals
Larger mammals
Every restriction on the ring-tailed lemur
39 of the 52 jurisdictions checked restrict this animal in some way. The rest had no rule we could find. Open a row for the wording of the rule and the citation behind it.
Alaska
Banned§ 92.029(a), (c); AS 16.05.940(19)
The department may not issue a permit for the capture, possession, import, or export of any game animal, including a hybrid of a game animal and a species listed in (b) of this section, for use as a pet
A mammal, so game under AS 16.05.940(19). Absent from the clean list in § 92.029(b), and subsection (c) closes the permit route for anything kept as a pet. The only primate exception was for chimpanzees already held before 31 January 2010. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
5 AAC 92.029, Permit for possessing live game →California
Banned§ 671(c)(2)(A)
Order Primates-Monkeys, Apes: All species (W), except humans in the Family Hominidae are not restricted.
Lemurs are primates and the order is restricted whole, marked (W) for welfare. No California permit type covers pet keeping; Animal Care, the only possession permit, requires lawful possession before January 1992. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
California Code of Regulations Title 14 § 671, via CDFW Restricted Species Laws and Regulations Manual →Colorado
BannedChapter W-0, § 008(B)(19)
19. All species and hybrids of non-human primates, except as authorized by §35-80-108 C.R.S.
Colorado puts every nonhuman primate on its prohibited list. The exception points to a section of the Pet Animal Care Facilities Act, C.R.S. 35-80-108, which was not read; nothing in the wildlife rules offers a keeper's route. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
How this rule works: The Commission's prohibited species list. Nineteen entries, and the grandfather clause in the opening paragraph reaches only subsections 1 through 8, so the later additions, monk parakeet and prairie dogs among them, have no route for existing owners.
Colorado 2 CCR 406-0, Chapter W-0, § 008(B), Possession of Terrestrial Wildlife →Connecticut
Banned§ 26-55-6(a)(3)(B)(iii), (b)(3)
(iii) A member within the order Primate (including, but not limited to, capuchin, macaque, lemur and marmoset),
Connecticut names the lemur among the primate examples in Category Two. Subsection (b)(3) allows a Category Two animal only to a treating vet, municipal parks, zoos, aquaria, nature centers, museums, exhibitors, laboratories and research facilities, so there is no private route. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
Existing owners: A primate weighing less than 35 pounds at maturity and legally possessed in Connecticut on or before 1 October 2003 may be kept by that person if registered with the department under § 26-55-6(c), with no breeding or release.
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.
Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 26-55-6, Importation, possession or liberation of wild birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates →District of Columbia
Banned§ 8-1808(j)(1)
a person shall not import into the District, possess, display, offer for sale, trade, barter, exchange, or adoption, or give as a household pet, any living member of the animal kingdom, including those born or raised in captivity, except the following
No primate fits any of the District's seven permitted categories, and the section has no permit route. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
D.C. Code § 8-1808(j), Prohibited conduct →Georgia
BannedDNR Guide to Legal Pets; R. 391-4-8-.05(1)(a)15; O.C.G.A. § 27-5-4(b)(1)
The exotic species listed below, except where otherwise noted, may not be held as pets in Georgia. ... Lemurs; all species
DNR names lemurs on their own line among exotics that may not be held as pets. The rule puts every primate in the license tier, and § 27-5-4(b)(1) issues licenses only to dealers and exhibitors, so no route is open to a keeper. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
How this rule works: The agency page that answers the native half of Georgia, which the wild animal rule does not reach. It states the operative rule in one line, "By Georgia Law, most native species of wildlife cannot be held without permits or licenses. These licenses are not issued for the purpose of holding native wildlife as pets", and adds the sentence that closes the captive-bred argument: "These restrictions apply to the various species of animal, regardless of the origin or morphology." It then lists native species that may not be held as a pet, among them the corn snake, milksnake, garter snake, green anole, both hognose snakes, all four box turtles and the flying squirrel. Two limits are worth carrying: the list says of itself that it "does not include all native wildlife that is prohibited", and a separate paragraph names the natives Georgia does allow to be taken, "rats, mice, armadillos, coyotes, groundhogs, beaver, freshwater turtles, venomous snakes, frogs, spring lizards, fiddler crabs, freshwater crayfish, freshwater mussels, and nutria".
Georgia DNR Law Enforcement Division, Guide to Legal Pets →Hawaii
BannedHAR § 4-71-6.5(b)(3); § 4-71-2; Restricted List Part B
except that animals in the order Primates shall not be allowed for import or possession for private or commercial use other than for purposes described in subsection (b)(2) or for primate sanctuaries, as determined by the board.
Part B names "Lemuridae (all species in family)". Primates are excluded from Part B's private and commercial use, leaving research, government zoos, approved institutions and nonprofit primate sanctuaries, and § 4-71-2 defines private use to exclude keeping a pet. No pet route. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
How this rule works: The rule text the three species lists hang off, and the part that explains why Hawaii answers differently from everywhere else. Two things matter. § 4-71-6.5 allows introduction only for animals on the conditionally approved or restricted lists, which is what makes an unlisted animal barred by default rather than unregulated. And § 4-71-2 defines a set of domestic animals, the European rabbit among them, then says that as used in the chapter the word animal means non-domestic animal, so the lists never reach those species at all.
Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 4-71, Non-Domestic Animal Import Rules, § 4-71-2 definitions and § 4-71-6.5 permitted introductions →Idaho
BannedIDAPA 02.04.27.407; 100.01
All non-human primates must be possessed on a facility that is AZA accredited. The following primate species are exempt from this rule: 01. Capuchin (Cebus spp). 02. Marmoset (Saimiri spp). 03. Spider Monkeys (Atleles spp). 04. Squirrel Monkeys (Callithrix, Cebuella, Callibella, and Mico spp).
Lemurs are not among the four exempt primate entries, so a ring-tailed lemur is a deleterious exotic animal that may be held only on an AZA-accredited facility under a possession permit from the Administrator. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
IDAPA 02.04.27, Idaho Department of Agriculture, Rules Governing Deleterious Exotic Animals →Illinois
Banned720 ILCS 5/48-10(a), (b), (c)(1)
No person shall have a right of property in, keep, harbor, care for, act as custodian of or maintain in his or her possession any dangerous animal or primate except at a properly maintained zoological park, federally licensed exhibit, circus, college or university, scientific institution, research laboratory, veterinary hospital, hound running area, or animal refuge in an escape-proof enclosure.
Illinois names the lemur in its definition of primate and bars keeping one. The exceptions are zoos, licensed exhibits, circuses, colleges, research and veterinary bodies and refuges, not homes. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
Existing owners: A person in lawful possession of a primate before 1 January 2011 may keep it if they registered it with the local animal control administrator by 1 April 2011, and must report moves, deaths, escapes and bites.
How this rule works: A closed list of 15 named mammals plus a blanket bar on primates, and nothing else. It replaced the Dangerous Animals Act at 720 ILCS 585, which P.A. 98-752 repealed effective 1 January 2015; the old citation is still what most secondary sources give. The section says in terms that it does not reach reptiles or amphibians. Exemptions: primates lawfully held before 1 January 2011 and registered by 1 April 2011, and one service capuchin for a person with a severe mobility impairment.
720 ILCS 5/48-10, Dangerous animals →Iowa
Banned§ 717F.1(5)(a)(7); §§ 717F.3, 717F.4
A member of the order of primates other than humans, and including the following families: callitrichiadae, cebidae, cercopithecidae, cheirogaleidae, daubentoniidae, galagonidae, hominidae, hylobatidae, indridae, lemuridae, loridae, megaladapidae, or tarsiidae. A member includes but is not limited to marmosets, tamarins, monkeys, lemurs, galagos, bushbabies, great apes, gibbons, lesser apes, indris, sifakas, and tarsiers.
Every nonhuman primate is a dangerous wild animal in Iowa, and the definition names lemuridae and lemurs. § 717F.3 bars owning, possessing, breeding or bringing one into the state, and the only private route was the § 717F.4 registration of animals already held on 1 July 2007. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
Existing owners: An owner in possession on 1 July 2007 could keep the animal after implanting an electronic identification device within sixty days and registering with the department by 31 December 2007. 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.
Iowa Code Chapter 717F, Dangerous Wild Animals →Kentucky
Banned301 KAR 2:082 §§ 4(2)(q), 5, 6(3)
(2) Except as established in Sections 5 and 6 of this administrative regulation, a person shall not import, transport, or possess the following inherently dangerous exotic wildlife: ... (q) Primates, nonhuman (Order Primates);
Every nonhuman primate is an inherently dangerous exotic, so the ring-tailed lemur is barred. The only routes left are an AZA-accredited facility and the commissioner's exemption in § 5, which is open to municipal zoos, colleges, circuses and earlier exempted facilities, not private keepers. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
Existing owners: A person who legally possessed the animal before 13 July 2005 may keep it for its life with veterinary records, acquisition papers or other proof, but may not replace it, breed it or transfer it.
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.
301 KAR 2:082, Transportation and holding of live exotic wildlife →Louisiana
BannedLAC 76:V.115.C.1.g, C.2
C.1.Except as provided herein, it shall be unlawful to import into, possess, purchase or sell within the state of Louisiana, by any means whatsoever including but not limited to transactions conducted via the internet, any of the following species or its subspecies of live wild quadrupeds, big exotic cats, or non-human primates, domesticated or otherwise (hereinafter "listed animals"): ... g.all non-human primates;
Every nonhuman primate is a listed animal, so importing, possessing, buying or selling a ring-tailed lemur is barred, "domesticated or otherwise". Holders of a potentially dangerous wild quadruped permit valid when the rule took effect were grandfathered but may not acquire more, "including breeding", the black bear's position. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
Existing owners: A potentially dangerous wild quadruped permit valid on the rule's effective date, renewed annually until the animal dies or leaves; no new animals. The rule was first published in the Louisiana Register in December 1995 (LR 21:1356); the exact effective day was not read.
How this rule works: A short mammal ban: three bears, two wolves, wolf dog hybrids, all non-human primates, and six big cats with their subspecies and hybrids. Existing permit holders were grandfathered but may not acquire more.
LAC 76:V.115, Possession of Potentially Dangerous Wild Quadrupeds, Big Exotic Cats, and Non-Human Primates →Maine
Banned§ 7.18(2)(F); § 7.06(3)(A)(2)(a)
Order Primates All Species in Order Primates (Primates) ... An applicant for a permit pertaining to Category 1 Restricted Species must be an exhibitor, wildlife rehabilitator; laboratory registered with the United States Department of Agriculture, or accredited research facility.
Maine puts the whole primate order in Category 1, and § 7.18(2)(B) separately reaches anything on CITES Appendix I, where Lemur catta sits. Category 1 permits go only to exhibitors, rehabilitators, USDA-registered laboratories and accredited research facilities, so there is no pet route. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
How this rule works: Maine is a closed-list state and § 7.06(4) is the sentence that makes it one: "A person may not possess any species that has not been categorized", and an uncategorized species "will not be eligible for a permit under this chapter". The four categories are the Unrestricted List, the Prohibited list at § 7.18(1), and Restricted Categories 1 and 2. Category 1 permits go only to exhibitors, rehabilitators, USDA-registered laboratories and accredited research facilities, so it is not a pet tier; Category 2 is open to "an individual with demonstrated experience". § 7.05 and § 7.06(5) are the route for getting an unlisted species classified.
09-137 CMR ch. 7, Rules for Importation, Possession, Propagation, Rehabilitation, and Exhibition of Wildlife →Maryland
BannedCrim. Law § 10-621(b)(1)(vii)
A person may not import into the State, offer for sale, trade, barter, possess, breed, or exchange a live: ... (vii) nonhuman primate, including a lemur, monkey, chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, marmoset, loris, or tamarin;
Maryland names the lemur first in its primate clause. The exemptions run to research facilities, licensed exhibitors, DNR licensees, sanctuaries, vets and circuses, and a licensed exhibitor may acquire a primate or big cat only with $1,000,000 of insurance, paid full-time staff and a disposition policy. Subsection (e) preserves stricter county and municipal rules. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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 misdemeanor, 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.
Md. Code, Criminal Law § 10-621, Importing, selling or possessing certain animals →Minnesota
Banned§ 346.155, subd. 1(e)(3); subd. 2(a), (c)
(a) Except as provided in this section, it is unlawful for a person to possess a regulated animal. ... (c) Except as provided in paragraph (e), a person must not take possession of a regulated animal after January 1, 2005.
Every nonhuman primate is a regulated animal, and lemurs are the first example the statute gives. Paragraph (e) lets only a USDA licensee in compliance on 1 January 2005 acquire new animals, to keep up its operating inventory, and subdivision 7 exempts institutions accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, among others. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
Existing owners: A person who possessed the animal on 1 January 2005 and registered it with the local animal control authority within 60 days may keep it under the subdivision 4 requirements, and a registrant without a USDA license may replace it once if it dies.
How this rule works: Revisor of Statutes text. 'Regulated animal' is the whole family Felidae, bears, and all non-human primates, plus any hybrid with a domestic animal and all subsequent generations. Possession has been unlawful since 1 January 2005 except for animals already held then and brought into federal Animal Welfare Act compliance. Note the carve-out inside the Felidae clause, which excludes not only domestic cats but cats registered and shown as a domestic breed by a multibreed registry; it and the hybrid sentence pull in opposite directions.
Minn. Stat. § 346.155, Possessing regulated animals →Missouri
Banned3 CSR 10-9.110(2); 3 CSR 10-4.110(1); RSMo § 578.023
(2) Except for federally-designated endangered species and species listed in 3 CSR 10-4.117 and 3 CSR 10-9.240, the following may be bought, sold, possessed, transported, and exhibited without permit: ... amphibians, reptiles, and mammals not native to Missouri except those mammals located in a licensed big game hunting preserve;
Missouri's free pass for non-native mammals carves out federally designated endangered species, and 50 CFR 17.11 lists the whole family Lemuridae as endangered. That leaves the general prohibition in 3 CSR 10-4.110(1), which bars possessing wildlife "except as specifically permitted by these rules", and no permit read here is a pet route for an exotic endangered mammal. The other primates, not listed, need only § 578.023 registration. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.
3 CSR 10-9, Missouri Wildlife Code: Confined Wildlife →Montana
BannedMCA § 87-5-705(1); ARM 12.6.2205, 12.6.2208, 12.6.2215
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;
Montana is a white list. The lemur is on none of its three lists, noncontrolled, controlled or prohibited, and no statute allows it, so § 87-5-705(1) bars possessing one. Lemurs are not among the primate families the prohibited list names; absence alone is the bar. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
Montana Code Annotated Title 87, Chapter 5, Part 7, Importation, Introduction, and Transplantation of Wildlife →Nebraska
Banned166 NAC 8 § 001.08A, A1; Neb. Rev. Stat. § 37-246
001.08A Importation: the following wildlife may be imported: Alpaca ... Chinchilla, Chinchilla spp. ... Coatimundi ... Degu, Octodon spp. ... Fox, Vulpes spp. ... Genet ... Gerbil, Gerbillus spp. ... Guinea pig, Cavia porcellus ... Eurasian Hedgehogs, Erinaceus spp. ... Jerboa, greater ... Sugar Glider(s), Petaurus spp. ... Wallabies ... All Ratites, All Waterfowl, All Peafowl, All Game Birds, All Cage and Aviary Birds
A ring-tailed lemur is not native, so it is not a wild mammal and the Captive Wildlife Permit scheme never reaches it, but Nebraska's importation list is closed and names no primate, so there is no lawful way to bring one into the state except to an accredited or public zoo under § 001.08A1, the kinkajou's position. The lemur family is also federally endangered, which § 37-477(1) and § 37-806(1) put behind a captive permit as well. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.
166 Neb. Admin. Code ch. 8, Keeping Wildlife in Captivity, and ch. 10, Nongame Species In Need Of Conservation →New Hampshire
BannedFis 804.05(b), Table 800.2
(b) A permit shall be issued only to a person in the permittee category(ies), as defined in Fis 802.01, and cited in Table 800.2 as follows: ... 5 Lemur, Ringtailed
Table 800.2 marks it for permittee category 5 only, and category 5 is exhibitors, so no permit can issue to an individual (category 1). Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
New Hampshire Code of Administrative Rules, Fis 800, Importation and Possession of Wildlife →New Jersey
BannedN.J.A.C. 7:25-4.10(a), (b); 7:25-4.14(a), (b); 7:25-4.2(a)
Except as specifically hereinafter provided, no permit shall be issued for the possession of any species designated as endangered by the U.S. Department of the Interior or the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to N.J.S.A. 23:2A-4.
A lemur needs a permit in any case under 4.2(a) and 4.5, and 4.10(a) bars one for any species the U.S. Department of the Interior designates endangered, which 50 CFR 17.11 does for the whole family Lemuridae. The only exception is 4.10(b), a permit issued after a clear showing under 4.14, which requires a federal endangered species permit, a sponsoring organization and a designated professional, and a written proposal for scientific research that needs the species. That is not a pet route, so the individual hobby permit at 4.6(a)1 is closed whatever the potentially dangerous table says about lemurs. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
N.J.A.C. 7:25 Subchapter 4, Endangered, Nongame and Exotic Wildlife →New Mexico
BannedDirector's Species Importation List, 2023
Primate (non-human) | Lemuridae all species | Lemur | IV | Federally Endangered
The Director's list names the lemur family in Group IV. 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. 19.35.7 NMAC is an importation rule, so it governs bringing the animal into New Mexico rather than keeping one already here. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Director's Species Importation List, updated January 2023 →New York
BannedECL §§ 11-0103(6)(e)(1), 11-0512(1)(a); 6 NYCRR § 180.1(b)(9)
Wild animal includes, and is limited to, any or all of the following orders and families: (1) Nonhuman primates and prosimians,
The definition names prosimians alongside nonhuman primates, which settles the lemur in terms, and 180.1(b)(9) lists "All Non-human primates and prosimians in the Order Primates" as dangerous animals. The exemptions in § 11-0512(2) are zoos, licensed exhibitors and research facilities, vets, shelters, universities, rehabilitators, sanctuaries and travelers, all holding the animal for a purpose other than a pet, and 6 NYCRR 180.1(c) issues dangerous animal licenses only for scientific, educational, exhibition, zoological or propagation purposes. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
How this rule works: New York answers exotic and native animals through two entirely separate mechanisms, and the famous one is the smaller. § 11-0103(6)(e) is a closed "wild animal" list, six clauses long, that § 11-0512 then bars keeping as a pet: primates, Felidae, Canidae, Ursidae, a named set of large constrictors and monitors plus all venomous reptiles, and Crocodylia. It carries two express carve-outs that decide cells on this map, for registered Felis catus hybrids five generations clear of wild parentage and for captive bred fennec foxes. The other mechanism is the one that catches natives, and it is a definition rather than a list: § 11-0103(2)(c) makes native frogs, salamanders, turtles, lizards and snakes SMALL GAME, therefore game, therefore protected wildlife under § 11-0103(6)(c), and § 11-0107(2) bars possessing protected wildlife "whether taken within the state or coming from without the state". The only license, § 11-0515, is for propagation, banding, scientific or exhibition purposes, so there is no pet route behind it.
N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law §§ 11-0103, 11-0107, 11-0511, 11-0512 and 11-0515 →New York City
Banned§ 161.01(b)(8)
All non-human primates, including, but not limited to, monkey, ape, chimpanzee, gorilla and lemur.
The primate clause names the lemur in its own list of examples. (b)(24) separately bars the gliding lemur, which is not a primate. The Code's only exceptions are the Parks Department and Wildlife Conservation Society zoos, labs, veterinary facilities and permitted temporary exhibits, so there is no pet route. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
New York City Health Code § 161.01, Wild and other animals prohibited →Oregon
BannedORS 609.305(2); ORS 609.341(1); ORS 609.351(1)
(2) Any nonhuman primate;
Every nonhuman primate is an exotic animal. ORS 609.341(1) bars keeping an exotic animal without a Department of Agriculture permit issued before 1 January 2010 or under ORS 609.351, whose application window closed 90 days after that date and never reopened, so there is no route for a new animal. Oregon cities and counties may prohibit exotic animals by ordinance as well. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
Or. Rev. Stat. § 609.305, 'Exotic animal' defined, with §§ 609.341 and 609.351 →Pennsylvania
Banned58 Pa. Code § 137.1(a)(7), (d)
(7) The order Primates. All families of nonhuman primates.
Lemurs are nonhuman primates and the order is on the prohibited list whole. The import permits go to menagerie, dealer and propagation permittees and zoos are exempt, so there is no pet route. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
58 Pa. Code Ch. 137, Game Commission wildlife regulations, § 137.1 importation, possession, sale and release of certain wildlife and § 137.31 possession of live wildlife →Rhode Island
Banned§ 3.7(B)
B. Possession of Non-Human Primates. All exotic wild animals of the order Primates are expressly prohibited from importation or ownership without the issuance of a valid permit by the Department. Possession is restricted to bona fide researchers, USDA licensed exhibitors authorized to possess animals of this order for short-term exhibition purposes and AZA certified facilities.
Every exotic primate falls under § 3.7(B), so a permit for a ring-tailed lemur exists only for researchers, short-term USDA exhibitors and AZA facilities. § 3.9(A) opens permits to private persons only where § 3.7 does not expressly prohibit the animal. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
250-RICR-40-05-3, Rules and Regulations Governing the Importation and Possession of Wild Animals →South Carolina
BannedS.C. Code §§ 50-15-30(C)(3), 50-15-40(D); § 47-2-10(2)(c)
(C) Except as otherwise provided in this article, it shall be unlawful for any person to take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or offer for sale, or ship, and for any common or contract carrier knowingly to transport or receive for shipment any species or subspecies of wildlife appearing on any of the following lists: ... (3) the United States' List of Endangered Foreign Fish and Wildlife (Part 17 of Title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, Appendix A, 50 C.F.R. Section 17.11), as such list may be modified hereafter;
South Carolina's 2018 ban reaches primates only through the great apes, but § 50-15-30(C)(3) separately bars possessing any species on the federal list of endangered foreign wildlife, and 50 CFR 17.11 lists the whole family Lemuridae, Lemur included, as endangered. § 50-15-40(D) lets the Department permit possession only for scientific, zoological, educational, propagation or other special purposes. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
How this rule works: The 2018 Act. It is narrow on purpose: genus Panthera, non-native bears, great apes, and hybrids of those. Anyone in lawful possession before 1 January 2018 could register with the local animal control authority and keep the animal for its life.
S.C. Code Title 47, Chapter 2, Large Wild Cats, Non-Native Bears and Great Apes →Utah
BannedTable 3b-1, prohibited mammals; R657-3b
Prohibited mammals ... known detrimental impacts to native wildlife populations, human health and safety, or agriculture. Personal possession will not be authorized. ... Primates order Primates all non-human species
Utah puts every nonhuman primate on its prohibited mammal list, under a heading that says personal possession will not be authorized. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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'.
Utah DWR Bird and Mammal Classification Table 3b-1 (May 1, 2023), under Utah Admin. Code R657-3b →Washington
BannedRCW 16.30.010(2)(a)(iii); RCW 16.30.030
(iii) Order primates, all nonhuman primate species;
Every nonhuman primate is a potentially dangerous wild animal. RCW 16.30.030(1) bars owning, possessing, keeping or bringing one into the state, and (2) bars breeding; the exemptions in 16.30.020 are for zoos, sanctuaries, exhibitors, research and similar bodies. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
Existing owners: A person in legal possession before 22 July 2007 may keep the animal for the rest of its life, with veterinary records or acquisition papers proving the date, but may not breed it.
How this rule works: An enumerated definition. Felidae is limited to lions, tigers, captive-bred cougars, jaguars, cheetahs, leopards, snow leopards and clouded leopards; Canidae to wolves excluding wolf-hybrids. § 16.30.030: 'A person shall not own, possess, keep, harbor, bring into the state, or have custody or control of a potentially dangerous wild animal', grandfathering lawful possession before 22 July 2007.
Wash. Rev. Code ch. 16.30, Dangerous Wild Animals, § 16.30.010(2) and § 16.30.030 →Wyoming
BannedCh. 10 § 11(b)(iv)
(b) In addition, a permit shall not be issued for importation or possession of the following live warm-blooded wildlife in Wyoming, except as otherwise specified in this regulation. ... (iv) All members of the order nonhuman primates;
Every nonhuman primate is on the list for which a permit "shall not be issued", so a ring-tailed lemur has no route. The lemur family is also federally endangered, which § 11(b)(xv) bars separately. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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 authorized upon approval.
Wyoming Game and Fish Commission Regulation Chapter 10, Importation and Possession of Live Warm-Blooded Wildlife →Arkansas
Permit requiredCode Addendum R1.02; Code 09.02(H); Ark. Code Ann. §§ 20-19-602, 20-19-605
A. Permits for breeding, sale, and importation may be issued for the following species in accordance with Codes 09.07 (Wildlife Breeder/ Dealer Permit Required) and 09.10 (Wildlife Importation Permit Required): ... 3. Mammals ... Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta)
Named on the permit list. Code 09.02(H) adds that a primate may be possessed only in compliance with Ark. Code Ann. §§ 20-19-601 to 20-19-610, which bar only apes, baboons and macaques, so the ring-tailed lemur stays lawful. The owner must register it with the county sheriff within 30 days of acquiring it under § 20-19-605(a)(1)(B), may not tether it outdoors or let the public touch it under § 20-19-602, and must meet USDA caging standards under § 20-19-606. A non-native animal on the permit list may be kept if it came from a Commission-permitted Wildlife Breeder/Dealer or in on a Wildlife Importation Permit, with acquisition records, a veterinary disease certificate and sexes housed apart unless neutered, under Code 09.02. Code 09.07 Exception I leaves primates out of the private resale allowance. § 20-19-609 lets cities and counties go further. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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".
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Code Book, Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List →Delaware
Permit required3 Del. Admin. Code 903-6.2, 7.1.1, with Del. Code tit. 3 § 7201
When an exotic is kept as a pet, the owner or custodian of the exotic must apply to the Department for an Individual Permit on a form supplied by the Department.
Delaware's definition of primate names lemurs, and none is exempt, so a lemur needs an Individual Permit, the permit the regulation writes for an exotic kept as a pet. The Individual Permit is issued per animal for three years, after the Department is satisfied the animal will be held in a sturdy, escape-proof primary enclosure inside a secondary enclosure that keeps the public out, and a background check may be run. Delaware's only outright refusals at 4.7 are the gila monster, the beaded lizard and the komodo dragon. County and municipal ordinances were not checked. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
3 Del. Admin. Code 903, Exotic Animal Regulations, with Del. Code tit. 3 § 7201 →Florida
Permit required68A-6.002(1)(c); 68A-6.003(8)
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.
Florida writes its primate classes genus by genus. Class I takes the great apes, gibbons, baboons and drills; Class II takes howlers, uakaris, mangabeys, guenons, patas, vervets, sakis, colobus, indris, macaques and langurs. Lemur, unlike the indri, is on neither list, so it falls to Class III and a Permit to Possess Class III Wildlife for Personal Use, which costs nothing. Primates have their own caging standard at 68A-6.0121. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
68A-6.002, 68A-6.003 and 68A-6.004, F.A.C., Captive Wildlife →Massachusetts
Permit required321 CMR 9.01(1), (12)(a)
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 thirteen-entry mammal exemption list has no primate, so in this closed-list state it needs a § 23 license; MassWildlife's own summary says "You cannot have in your possession any mammal not listed as legal or domestic." Lemur catta is also assessed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, which under 9.01(3) would bar listing it as exempt in any case. The license under § 23 exists on paper, but MassWildlife says 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." Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
321 CMR 9.00, Exotic Wildlife: 9.01 Exemption List and 9.02 List of Domestic Animals →North Dakota
Permit requiredNDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(6); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2); NDCC 36-01-08.4
b. Category 3 species of nontraditional livestock includes the following species and their hybrids: ... (2) Big cats, including mountain lion, jaguar, leopard, lion, tiger, and cheetah. (3) Bears. (4) Wolves. (5) Venomous reptiles and nonvenomous injurious reptiles. (6) Primates.
Primates are category 3 nontraditional livestock, so a ring-tailed lemur needs a license. The owner must hold a nontraditional livestock license from the Board of Animal Health before acquiring one, and the board must inspect and approve the premises first, under 48.1-09-01-03(1) and (2)(b). The annual fee is fifteen dollars under NDCC 36-01-08.1. NDCC 36-01-08.4 also directs the board to adopt rules on keeping primates. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
How this rule works: The nontraditional livestock category system is alive and sits here, not in the repealed title 48. 48.1-09-01-02 sorts every nondomestic species held in confinement into three categories, category 1 needing no license and categories 2 and 3 needing one before the animal is acquired. Subsection 4 exempts arachnids and invertebrates from even the importation permit, along with a short list of small pets named one by one: gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, rats and sugar gliders. The Board of Animal Health's own page (https://www.ndda.nd.gov/divisions/animal-health/non-traditional-livestock) files that list under Exempt Animals and calls them exempt from non-traditional livestock requirements and importation requirements. Last amended April 1, 2026.
North Dakota Administrative Code Article 48.1-09, Nontraditional Livestock →South Dakota
Permit requiredARSD 12:68:18:03(5); 12:68:18:03.03(4)
a permit as described in § 12:68:18:03.03 is required to possess in South Dakota any nondomestic mammal, or any of its hybrids, listed in this section: ... (5) Of the order Primates.
The whole order Primates is on the possession permit list, so a ring-tailed lemur needs the board's permit. A possession permit under 12:68:18:03.03(4) costs ten dollars an animal, to a maximum of one hundred, and the board must find the facilities adequate. The rule writes no pet exclusion, and the only outright prohibition in the chapter is the raccoon dog. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
ARSD 12:68:18, Nondomestic Animal Control →Vermont
Permit requiredUnrestricted Wild Animal List, July 2025, and Regulation 881 § 5.2
Species not found on the Restricted, Unrestricted or Domestic species lists are considered Restricted.
Vermont's Unrestricted list carries only late-generation cat hybrids, two gliders, a run of pet rodents and the African pygmy hedgehog among mammals, and the Domestic list's mammals are livestock, two deer, the dog, the cat and the ferret. A lemur is on none of the three lists, and Vermont treats that absence as a restriction. Restricted means a permit, and Regulation 881 § 5.2 leaves one open to a private keeper: for purposes other than research and education, the Commissioner shall not issue a permit "unless it has been determined that the wild animal or wildlife proposed to be brought into or possessed in the state does not conflict with the purpose of this regulation". That purpose is protecting wild and domestic animals, agriculture and livestock, and human health and safety, and the determination is the Commissioner's, case by case, with no published standard, so an application can be refused. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
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.
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, Unrestricted Wild Animal List, July 2025 →Ohio
Conditions applyR.C. 935.01(C)(19); 935.041(D)
A person that possesses any of the following animals shall register the animal in the same manner as provided in section 935.04 of the Revised Code: (A) Pygmy, white-tufted-ear, silvery, and black-pencilled marmosets; (B) Squirrel monkeys; (C) Brown, white-faced, weeping, and white-fronted capuchins; (D) Lemurs.
Ohio writes the lemurs out of its dangerous wild animal definition, "Nonhuman primates other than lemurs", so the possession bar in § 935.02 does not reach them. What applies instead is § 935.041: a lemur must be registered with the director of agriculture in the same manner as a dangerous wild animal under § 935.04, with a microchip implanted at registration. Lawful on that condition. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
How this rule works: The operative half of Chapter 935. § 935.02(A) bars possessing a dangerous wild animal on or after 1 January 2014 and (B)(1) bars acquiring one after the chapter took effect; the wildlife shelter and propagation permits at §§ 935.05 and 935.07 are open only to someone who possessed a registered animal on 1 October 2013. § 935.041 sends four marmosets, squirrel monkeys, four capuchins and lemurs to registration with the director of agriculture. The restricted snake permits at §§ 935.08 and 935.10 remain open to a snake acquired after 1 January 2014, within 120 days of acquiring it.
Ohio Rev. Code §§ 935.02 to 935.101, Dangerous Wild Animals and Restricted Snakes: possession, registration and permits →Arizona
Conditions applyR12-4-406(F)(8)
8. All nonhuman primates. Common names include: chimpanzees, gorillas, macaques, orangutans, and spider monkeys.
Every nonhuman primate is restricted live wildlife, and the rule takes ITIS as its taxonomic authority under subsection (B), which places lemurs in Primates. Restricted live wildlife may be held only under a special license listed in R12-4-409(A) or a listed exemption, and none of the R12-4-407 exemptions is a pet route. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).
How this rule works: The operative rule. Restricted live wildlife needs a special license, 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.
Ariz. Admin. Code R12-4-406, Restricted Live Wildlife →For the full write-up, including the states that get reported wrongly, read the ring-tailed lemur legal guide.
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Every entry here is quoted from the statute or regulation it comes from, with the date it was last read against the published text.
How to read this
Two of the shades mean very different things and are worth telling apart. A flat gray state was read for this animal and nothing in it restricts one. A dotted state has not been read for this animal at all. Coverage runs from two jurisdictions to fifty-one depending on the species, so on a less-researched animal most of the map is a gap in our work rather than a finding, and it should not be taken as permission.
Even a flat gray is not a guarantee. It means no restriction was found in the specific body of law checked for that state, which is recorded alongside each jurisdiction. Cities and counties regularly ban animals their state allows, and several states say so in their own rules.
Hatched gray means the rule genuinely does not resolve. Usually a definition arguably reaches the animal without naming it, and the honest answer is to ask the agency rather than to guess. Those entries are marked unclear on purpose rather than being rounded to a yes or a no.
Every entry links to the regulation it came from. None of this is legal advice, laws change without much notice, and the agency that issues the permit is always the last word. For the federal layer and how state schemes are structured, see the exotic pet legal hub.