Where is the savannah cat legal?

(c) 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

Same answer as the Bengal. Felis catus is on the clean list at (b), but the list opens by excluding "a hybrid of a game animal and a species listed in this subsection", and (c) then bars a pet permit for exactly that hybrid. Game under AS 16.05.940 is any mammal found or introduced in the state other than a domestic one, which takes in a serval, so a Savannah is the hybrid both subsections describe. No generation cutoff, so an F5 stands where an F1 does.

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.

"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;

Connecticut is where the Bengal and the Savannah come apart most sharply. Category One is any wild animal "or hybrid" of a member of Felidae, and the only cat carved out is the Bengal, by name. A Savannah is a hybrid of a felid, the serval, and is not the cat the exception names, so it is a Category One animal, and (b)(1) lets only municipal parks, zoos, public nonprofit aquariums, nature centers, museums and licensed exhibitors, laboratories and research facilities hold one. No generation line and no private route.

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.

Hybrids or crosses between any combination of domestic animals, wildlife, or regulated wild animals and all subsequent generations are regulated in Georgia and may not be held without a license. ... Most exotic cat hybrids, such as a savannah cat, are not a legal pet in Georgia.

Georgia's agency uses the Savannah as its example of what it will not allow. The rule lists "Family Felidae (cats) - All species" as inherently dangerous, DNR says hybrids "and all subsequent generations" are regulated and need a license, and O.C.G.A. § 27-5-4(b)(1) issues wild animal licenses only to the wild animal trade and to public exhibitors, so there is no license a pet keeper can hold. No generation exit and no registry exception.

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".

Felis catus crossed with lynx, ocelot, margay, puma, jaguarandi, bobcat, leopard cat, wild cat, etc. ... cat, hybrid; (all hybrid-crosses where one or both parents are prohibited or restricted)

Hawaii writes cat hybrids into its prohibited list and defines the class by the parents: every hybrid cross where one or both parents are prohibited or restricted. The serval is on the restricted list, Part A, under its older name Felis serval, so a Savannah is a prohibited animal. The serval is not among the named crosses, but the list of names ends with "etc." and the parenthetical is the rule. No filial generation cutoff appears, so a late-generation Savannah is in the same position as an F1.

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

All cats other than domesticated cats (Felis catus), including, but not limited to, lion, tiger, leopard, ocelot, jaguar, puma, panther, mountain lion, cheetah, wild cat, cougar, bobcat, lynx, serval, caracal, jaguarundi, margay and any hybrid or cross-breed offspring of a wild cat and domesticated or other cat.

The serval is named in the cat clause, and the clause ends by catching "any hybrid or cross-breed offspring of a wild cat and domesticated or other cat", with no filial number, no weight test and no registry exception. The only way out is to be a domesticated cat, Felis catus, and the article never says when a hybrid becomes one. New York State lets a registered hybrid through once it is five generations clear of wild parentage; the five boroughs do not, so a cat that is lawful in Buffalo is unlawful in Brooklyn. Same answer as the Bengal. § 161.01(d) lets the Department consent to a seized animal being removed to a jurisdiction where it is lawful, which is the only 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.

Category 2 species of nontraditional livestock includes the following species and their hybrids, all nondomestic ungulates, including all deer (cervidae) and pronghorn, zebras, nondomestic cats not listed in category 3

North Dakota writes hybrids into the category sentence itself: category 2 is the listed species "and their hybrids", and nondomestic cats not in category 3 are among them. Category 3 stops at the mountain lion, jaguar, leopard, lion, tiger and cheetah, so the serval is a category 2 cat and a Savannah is a category 2 hybrid, and 48.1-09-01-03(1) requires the license before the animal is acquired, with the premises approved first. The counter-reading is NDCC 36-01-00.1(3), which lists "cat" as a domestic animal, while nontraditional livestock means wildlife held in confinement; a late-generation Savannah sold as a domestic cat has the better claim to that. No generation line is written anywhere.

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.

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: (1) Of the order Carnivora, all nondomestic members of the following families: (a) Felidae;

The hybrid words sit in the operative sentence, so a serval hybrid needs the same possession permit as a serval: ten dollars an animal from the Animal Industry Board, renewed each year. No generation line is drawn, so a late-generation Savannah reads the same as an F1, which is also how the Bengal is answered here. The board's prohibited list names only the raccoon dog, so this is a real route for a private keeper.

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.

"Dangerous wild animal" means: (A) a lion; (B) a tiger; (C) an ocelot; (D) a cougar; (E) a leopard; (F) a cheetah; (G) a jaguar; (H) a bobcat; (I) a lynx; (J) a serval; (K) a caracal; (L) a hyena; (M) a bear; (N) a coyote; (O) a jackal; (P) a baboon; (Q) a chimpanzee; (R) an orangutan; (S) a gorilla; or (T) any hybrid of an animal listed in this subdivision.

Texas catches the Savannah in the same sentence that frees the Bengal. Clause (T) reaches "any hybrid of an animal listed in this subdivision", and the serval is listed at clause (J), so a Savannah is a dangerous wild animal and § 822.103(a) bars keeping one "for any purpose" without a certificate of registration from the local animal control office, or the county sheriff where there is none. The fee is capped at $50 an animal, § 822.107 adds liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence, and § 822.116(b) lets any municipality or county prohibit the animal outright. No generation line is drawn, so on the statute's words a late-generation Savannah is as much a hybrid of a serval as an F1.

How this rule works: The statute everyone cites for Texas, and the one that answers the fewest questions on this map. § 822.101(4) is a closed list of twenty clauses, nineteen named mammals plus "any hybrid of an animal listed in this subdivision". It contains no reptile, no bird, no rodent and no invertebrate. Where it does bite it bites hard: § 822.103(a) requires a certificate of registration issued by the local animal control office, or the county sheriff where there is none, rather than by a state agency; § 822.107 requires liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence; and § 822.116(b) expressly preserves the power of any municipality or county to prohibit the animal outright.

"Warm-Blooded Wildlife" means every live wild mammal and bird, their viable gametes (eggs and sperm), fertilized eggs, or any hybrid (including hybrids between wildlife and wildlife, and hybrids between wildlife and domestic or domesticated animals) or any transgenic product thereof.

Wyoming defines warm-blooded wildlife to include "hybrids between wildlife and domestic or domesticated animals" in terms, and a Savannah is that hybrid. Section 3 requires a permit before importing or possessing any live warm-blooded wildlife; the serval is on neither the Section 11 prohibited list nor the domestic list; and Section 13(d) leaves it to a permit that "may be authorized upon approval", which is discretion rather than entitlement. The pull the other way is § 2(i), whose domestic animal definition also mentions "any hybrid" of the domestic populations and lists cat (Felis catus). But that list is closed, names the mule separately where it means a hybrid, and § 2(z) is the clause written for exactly this cross. No generation line is drawn.

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.

"Hybrid of a wild mammal" means a mammal whose parents are different varieties of the same species or belong to different but closely allied species, one parent being a wild mammal not native to or generally found in Delaware and the other parent being a domestic mammal native to or generally found in Delaware.

Delaware's statute requires a permit before anyone possesses a "hybrid of a wild mammal", and the regulation defines the term by the animal's parents: one a non-native wild mammal, the other a domestic mammal. An F1 Savannah, a serval crossed with a domestic cat, is exactly that animal and needs the $25 Individual permit under regulation 6.2, since no cat is on the exempt list at 6.1. A later-generation Savannah has a Savannah parent rather than a serval, so on the regulation's own words it is not a hybrid of a wild mammal and falls outside the permit requirement. The statute leaves the term undefined, so the F2 line is the regulation's reading rather than a filial rule anyone wrote down.

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.

The offspring of a domestic cat and another member of the family felidae classified as a savannah with an ancestor classified as a serval which is a member of the species leptailurus serval. The savannah must be the fourth or later filial generation of offspring with the first filial generation being the offspring of a domestic cat and a serval, and each subsequent generation being the offspring of a domestic cat.

Iowa names the Savannah in its statute, in the same sentence pattern it uses for the Bengal. The serval is a dangerous wild animal by name at § 717F.1(5)(a)(3); paragraph (b) makes the offspring of a listed animal and "any other animal", and every subsequent generation, a dangerous wild animal too; and (b)(2)(b) carves the Savannah back out from the fourth filial generation. So F4 and later are ordinary cats, and F1 to F3 are dangerous wild animals that § 717F.3 bars anyone from owning, possessing, breeding or importing. The carve-out also requires each generation after the first to be "the offspring of a domestic cat", and a cat bred from two Savannahs does not meet those words on their face; the statute raises that question and does not answer it.

Existing owners: An F1 to F3 owned on 1 July 2007 could be kept 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.

(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;

Maryland answers by weight and nothing else. A Savannah is a hybrid of a member of the cat family and a domestic cat, so clause (iv) is the one that reaches it, and it reaches it only "if the hybrid weighs over 30 pounds". There is no generation test and no registry requirement, so an F1 under the line is lawful and an F5 over it is not: the answer is read off the scale rather than the pedigree, and can change as the cat grows. The serval itself is caught by clause (iii) with no permit route, which is why the Savannah and the Bengal share a bucket here and the serval does not. Subsection (e) preserves stricter county and municipal rules on any potentially dangerous animal.

Existing owners: Lawful possession on or before 31 May 2006 of a hybrid over the weight line 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.

No person shall possess, sell, trade, breed, import, export or release a wild canid hybrid or wild felid hybrid, except as otherwise provided by rules and regulations of the division. ... The provisions of this section shall not apply to an owner or person possessing a domesticated show or pet cat registered with a nationally or internationally recognized breeding association or registry which certifies the pedigree and registration of such cat to be without any wild felid parentage for a minimum of three generations.

Massachusetts applies the Bengal test to the Savannah, and MassWildlife states it for the Savannah by name: the cat "is considered a domestic breed only if it can be documented to be generations (F4) past the original mating with an African Serval". § 77A prohibits possessing a wild felid hybrid outright and defines one to include the offspring of a hybrid wild felid and a domestic cat, so every generation is caught until the exit applies, and the exit needs both the registration and a registry-certified pedigree three generations clear. 321 CMR 9.02(2)(e) treats every other wild and domestic mammal hybrid as domestic and sends felid and canid hybrids back to § 77A.

Existing owners: An owner in possession on 1 January 1994 who obtained a permit from the director on or before 31 July 1994 is outside the section.

How this rule works: A flat prohibition with one exit. "No person shall possess, sell, trade, breed, import, export or release a wild canid hybrid or wild felid hybrid, except as otherwise provided by rules and regulations of the division." The exit is the last paragraph: the section does not apply to "a domesticated show or pet cat registered with a nationally or internationally recognized breeding association or registry which certifies the pedigree and registration of such cat to be without any wild felid parentage for a minimum of three generations." So Massachusetts writes a generation rule without using filial numbers, and 321 CMR 9.02(2)(e) points to this section by treating wild felid hybrids as the one hybrid class that is not automatically domestic.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, no person shall keep in captivity in this state any wolf, any skunk, or any member of the families Felidae and Ursidae. This subsection shall not apply to (a) the species Felis domesticus,

The same two words decide the Savannah as the Bengal. Nebraska bans every member of Felidae by statute, with no permit behind it, and excepts "the species Felis domesticus". An early-generation Savannah is a serval hybrid rather than a member of that species; a late-generation cat registered and sold as a domestic cat has the better claim to be one; and nothing in the statute or in 166 NAC 8 says where the line falls. The serval itself is plainly banned, and § 37-477(3) protects only animals held on 1 March 1986.

How this rule works: The statute does two things the regulation does not. § 37-477(2) is a flat ban with no permit behind it: "no person shall keep in captivity in this state any wolf, any skunk, or any member of the families Felidae and Ursidae", excepting only Felis domesticus, accredited zoos and public facilities, and lynx or bobcat fur producers. And §§ 37-245 and 37-246 define wild birds and wild mammals by geography rather than by wildness, as species "native to, migrating to or through, or having established free-ranging populations in the State of Nebraska". That definition is the hinge of the whole state: a Nebraska native is caught by the captive wildlife scheme and an exotic is not, which sends the exotic question to the importation list instead. § 37-247 defines wildlife far more broadly, reaching every arthropod and invertebrate, and that breadth sits awkwardly with an importation list containing only mammals and birds.

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to an owner or person possessing a wolf hybrid, as defined in RSA 466-A:1, VII, or a domesticated show or pet cat registered with a nationally or internationally recognized breeding association or registry which certifies the pedigree and registration of such cat to be without any wild felid parentage for a minimum of 3 generations.

New Hampshire uses the Massachusetts sentence, nearly word for word, as an exemption from the whole of Fis 800. A registered Savannah whose certified pedigree shows no wild felid parentage for three generations, which MassWildlife reads as F4 and later, is outside the chapter. Anything short of that is inside it, and there the serval decides the answer: Fis 804.04(a) bars possessing controlled wildlife "or their hybrids" without a permit, and the serval sits in the controlled table with permittee category 5 alone, the exhibitor category, so no permit issues to a private keeper. Registration and the certified pedigree are both part of the exemption, so an unregistered cat fails it at any generation.

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.

Felidae and all hybrids thereof, with the exception of the species Felis catus ... and hybrids of Felis catus that are registered by the American Cat Fanciers Association or the International Cat Association provided that such cats be without any wild felid parentage for a minimum of five generations

The Bengal rule, applied to the Savannah: two conditions together, registration with ACFA or TICA and five generations without any wild felid parentage. Counted the way MassWildlife counts the identical three-generation formula, where three generations clear is an F4 Savannah, five generations clear means no serval among the cat's parents, grandparents or the three generations above them, which is an F6. A Savannah that falls short is a wild animal under clause (2), and § 11-0512(1)(a) bars keeping a wild animal as a pet with no personal permit behind it. The serval itself is barred outright, and New York City applies no five-generation exit at all.

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.

Carnivora | Feliformia | Felidae | All wild-domestic hybrid cats of F4 generation or greater

Vermont writes the generation line into the list itself, and it applies to every wild and domestic cat hybrid alike, so the Savannah gets exactly the Bengal's answer. An F4 or later Savannah is unrestricted. An F1 to F3 is on no list, which the list's closing line makes restricted, so an early-generation Savannah needs an Importation and Possession Permit, which Regulation 881 § 5.2 lets the Commissioner issue to a private keeper only on a discretionary finding that the animal does not conflict with the regulation's purpose. Ask the breeder for the filial generation in writing.

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.

To be living in a state of nature and not domesticated.

Arkansas turns on whether a Savannah is wildlife at all. Code 01.00 defines wild as "living in a state of nature and not domesticated" and wildlife as wild animals "regardless of classification", including animals living in a captive state. If a Savannah is wildlife it is non-native wildlife under Code 09.02, and no felid hybrid appears on any of the three addenda, whose closing clause makes an unlisted species prohibited until evaluated. If it is a domesticated cat, nothing in Chapter 09.00 applies. The codebook never says which, the same question the Bengal raises. Ask the Game and Fish Commission.

How this rule works: Code 09.01 makes it unlawful to hold any live wildlife captive unless otherwise specified, and its exceptions include terrestrial invertebrates. Code 09.02 conditions non-native wildlife on sourcing and veterinary certification. Code 09.14 caps native wildlife pets at six per household. Chapter 01.00 supplies the two definitions that decide the rest: WILDLIFE reaches "all other wild animals, regardless of classification", and WILD means "living in a state of nature and not domesticated". Addendum R1.02 closes with "Species not listed in Addenda R1.01, R1.02, or R1.03 are prohibited until evaluated", so absence is a bar rather than a silence.

These rules shall apply to: 1.The possession, propagation, research, rehabilitation, or exhibition of any wildlife in captivity and to the importation of live wildlife from an area outside the state, including wildlife that has been hybridized, genetically altered, or reared in captivity, pursuant to 12 M.R.S. Part 13.

Maine reaches further toward the Savannah than toward the Bengal, but never names it. Chapter 7 applies to wildlife "that has been hybridized"; 12 M.R.S. § 10001(71) defines wildlife to include "any part, egg or offspring" of a species wild by nature; and § 7.18(2)(F) lists "All Species in Family Felidae (Cats)" as Category 1 restricted, which only exhibitors, rehabilitators, accredited research facilities and USDA-registered laboratories may hold. Follow that chain and an F1 Savannah, the offspring of a serval, is Category 1 wildlife with no pet route. Against it, a domestic cat is not wildlife, § 10001(69) draws wild animals "as distinguished from the common domestic animals", and chapter 7 writes a whole permit scheme for wolf hybrids and nothing for cat hybrids. No generation line exists either way. Ask Inland Fisheries and Wildlife before buying.

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.

all members of the Felidae family including, but not limited to, lions, tigers, cougars, leopards, cheetahs, ocelots, and servals, but not including domestic cats or cats recognized as a domestic breed, registered as a domestic breed, and shown as a domestic breed by a national or international multibreed cat registry association

The Bengal's internal conflict, with the hybrid sentence pointing harder at this cat. The serval is named in clause (1) itself, and the definition closes by saying a regulated animal "includes any hybrid or cross between an animal listed in clause (1), (2), or (3) and a domestic animal and offspring from all subsequent generations of those crosses or hybrids". Read alone, that reaches every Savannah ever bred. Against it, the same clause excludes cats recognized, registered and shown as a domestic breed by a multibreed registry, all three, and if a Savannah meets that description the carve-out reads it out; the statute never ties those three words to a filial generation. Recorded unclear because the conflict is on the face of the statute and enforcement sits with local animal control. If the hybrid sentence wins, the answer is a ban, since possession has been closed to new animals since 1 January 2005.

Existing owners: Only if the cat is a regulated animal: possessed on 1 January 2005 and brought into Animal Welfare Act compliance within 90 days. Breeding after that date is barred, and a non-USDA-licensed keeper may replace the animal only once.

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.

Carnivora Canidae--Nondomestic dogs / Ursidae--Bears / Felidae--Nondomestic cats

Same gap as the Bengal. The potentially dangerous list takes "Felidae--Nondomestic cats" and 4.9(a)3 bars keeping a listed species as a pet, which is what makes the serval a ban here. Whether a Savannah is a nondomestic cat is the whole question, and subchapter 4 has no hybrid clause for mammals, no generation count and no registry exit; its only hybrid provision is about cross-bred birds. The statute above it excludes "domesticated companion animals ... as defined by the Fish and Game Council", and the Council has not defined the term. Nondomestic means banned; domestic means unregulated; the rule does not say which.

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.

it is unlawful for a person to import, possess, sell, offer for sale or release within this Commonwealth the following wild animals or wild birds or the eggs of the birds or a crossbreed or hybrid of the wild animals or wild birds, which are similar in appearance: (1) In the family Felidae . Species and subspecies, except species which are commonly called house cats which may be possessed but not released into the wild.

The same structural problem as the Bengal, and the Savannah sits nearer the wrong side of it. The opening sentence reaches a crossbreed or hybrid of a listed animal "which are similar in appearance", and the Felidae line lists every species and subspecies, the serval among them; against that, the line excepts "species which are commonly called house cats". A Savannah is bred as a house cat, and an early-generation animal is also the cat most likely to look like a serval. The regulation gives no filial generation, no registry route and no test of what similar in appearance means, and no Game Commission statement on the breed was found. Rendered gray rather than guessed.

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.

Domestic Cat (Felis catus) excluding hybrids with wild felines,

The Bengal's position exactly. The domestic animal list takes the domestic cat "excluding hybrids with wild felines", and § 3.7(A) bars importing or possessing exotic wild animals "and hybrids of the order Carnivora" with no USDA licensed rabies vaccine, restricting them to researchers, USDA licensed exhibitors and AZA facilities. An F1 Savannah is plainly caught. But § 3.6(A)(13) defines a hybrid as an animal that "is a result of the cross breeding of a domestic and wild animal", and an F2 or later is the offspring of a Savannah and a domestic cat, so on the definition it is arguably not a hybrid at all. Nothing in the regulation counts filial generations to settle it. Ask the Division of Agriculture before buying.

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.