Where is the serval legal?

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

The only cat on the clean list is Felis catus.

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.

The felidae, including, but not limited to, the lion, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, ocelot, jaguarundi cat, puma, lynx and bobcat

Existing owners: Primates under 35 lb imported before this date are exempt; the statute grandfathers by date generally.

How this rule works: Potentially dangerous animals are 'the felidae... the canidae... the ursidae... and the hominidae', or any hybrid. Narrow: no rodents, marsupials, mustelids or insectivores. Civil penalty up to $2,000 per offence and a class A misdemeanour for a wilful violation.

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

The permitted list covers domesticated dogs and cats. A serval is neither, and there is no permit route in the section.

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

On the wild animal licence list under the cat family. Georgia DNR's position is that listed species may not be held as pets, and unlike the ferret and the sugar glider the serval has no carve-out written into the rule.

How this rule works: States the enforcement position: 'The exotic species listed below, except where otherwise noted, may not be held as pets in Georgia.'

A member of the family felidae of the order carnivora, including but not limited to lions, tigers, cougars, leopards, cheetahs, ocelots, and servals. However, a dangerous wild animal does not include a domestic cat.

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.

member of the cat family other than the domestic cat

How this rule works: Misdemeanour: a fine up to $1,000 for an individual, $10,000 otherwise, and the animal may be seized immediately with costs falling on the keeper unless the seizure proves unjustified. Counties and municipalities may be stricter. Note COMAR 15.11.16.01, which is titled List of Prohibited Animals, is an agriculture rule about feral swine only and is not the exotic pet provision.

Large Carnivore Act covers lions, tigers, cougars, cheetahs, leopards, jaguars, panthers and hybrids, plus bears, except under narrow exemptions.

How this rule works: Michigan splits this across three bodies of law: the Large Carnivore Act, the Wolf-dog Cross Act, and Part 413 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. Penalties run to misdemeanour charges, fines up to $2,000 per animal and forfeiture.

all members of the family Felidae except the domestic cat

Minnesota bans the cat family wholesale with a single exception for Felis catus, so the serval is caught by the same words that catch a tiger. Possession has been unlawful since 2005 unless the animal was already held on 1 January of that year in compliance with the federal Animal Welfare Act.

Existing owners: Only if possessed on or before 1 January 2005 and brought into Animal Welfare Act compliance.

How this rule works: 'Regulated animal' is all members of Felidae except the domestic cat, all bears, and all non-human primates, plus any hybrid or cross between a listed animal and a domestic animal and all subsequent generations. Possession is unlawful unless held on or before 1 January 2005 in compliance with the federal Animal Welfare Act. A knowing violation is a gross misdemeanour: up to two years imprisonment or a $5,000 fine.

Importation: the following wildlife may be imported:

No cat of any kind appears on the importation list, and the list is closed. The captivity list at § 001.01B covers only the bobcat and the Canada lynx, both for commercial purposes only.

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

All felines, except mountain lions and bobcats

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

5 Serval, African

The permittee category is 5, exhibitor, with no category 1. A private individual cannot be issued a possession permit for one.

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

Felidae, with no applicable exception.

How this rule works: A closed definition: 'includes and is limited to' nonhuman primates and prosimians, Felidae and hybrids, Canidae, Ursidae, venomous reptiles plus named large pythons and monitors, and Crocodylia. § 11-0512 then bars possessing a wild animal as a pet, grandfathering animals held when the section took effect if licensed within six months.

All cats other than domesticated cats (Felis catus), including ... serval, caracal

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

Non-indigenous Felidae. Permits had to pre-date the 2009 Act, so there is no route for a new animal.

Existing owners: ODA permits had to pre-date the 2009 Act, so no new permit is available.

How this rule works: A closed definition: non-indigenous Felidae except the domestic cat, nonhuman primates, non-wolf non-indigenous Canidae except the domestic dog, bears other than the black bear, and Crocodylia. § 609.341 bars keeping one without an ODA permit, and permits had to pre-date the 2009 Act, so the practical answer for a listed animal is no. Cities and counties may prohibit exotic animals by ordinance on top of this.

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

There is no USDA licensed rabies vaccine for servals, so the permit route is closed to private owners. § 3.7(A) restricts possession to researchers, USDA licensed exhibitors and AZA facilities.

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.

Serval (Felis serval).

Listed under small felidae. Only the large felidae and primate lists carry the extra requirement that the facility be AZA accredited.

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.

A permit is required under this rule for the following Class II wild animals: ...(11) Serval (Leptailurus serval).

Class II, not Class III, so the permit is applied for within five days of taking possession rather than obtained in advance. A Class II wild animal is defined as one that may pose a threat to human safety.

How this rule works: Three classes by risk. Class I is rabbits and squirrels, Class II is a long and specific list of small wild cats plus Indiana's furbearers, Class III is wolves, bears, all other wild cats, venomous reptiles and large crocodilians. Both the Class II and Class III lists end with the same sentence exempting hybrids with a domestic dog or cat, which is the clearest hybrid answer any state gives.

Servals, excluding hybrids with domestic cats commonly known as savannah cats

The serval itself is a dangerous wild animal; savannah cat hybrids are expressly carved out.

How this rule works: Two enumerated lists. Dangerous wild animals need an Ohio Department of Agriculture wildlife shelter permit; anything on neither list needs no state permit. Restricted snakes are constrictors of 12 feet or more plus venomous families.

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;

A possession permit costs ten dollars an animal and must be renewed annually by 1 January.

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.

a lion; a tiger; an ocelot; a cougar; a leopard; a cheetah; a jaguar; a bobcat; a lynx; a serval; a caracal; a hyena; a bear; a coyote; a jackal; a baboon; a chimpanzee; an orangutan; a gorilla; or any hybrid

Certificate of registration plus $100,000 liability insurance.

How this rule works: A closed species list. § 822.103: 'a person may not own, harbor, or have custody or control of a dangerous wild animal for any purpose unless the person holds a certificate of registration for that animal issued by an animal registration agency', plus liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence and caging standards.

Felidae All Species Cats*

The table restricts the whole cat family by name rather than listing species, so the serval is caught by the same line as a lion. A special permit is required to import, possess or sell one.

Existing owners: Cats carry the asterisk, so an animal held before 1 July 1992 and declared in writing by 1 January 1993 may be kept under a possession-only permit that renews every five years and cannot be transferred.

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

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

Not on the prohibited list at Section 11 and not on either the domestic or the domesticated list, so it lands in the discretionary permit category. May be authorised is not the same as shall be issued.

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

All species of the order Carnivora

How this rule works: Restricted wildlife requires the applicable federal licences and permits, an appropriate special licence, or a lawful exemption.

Family Felidae-All species (W)

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

Likely Group IV as a dangerous species, but the list was not read, so this is not asserted.

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

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

Nontraditional livestock is defined as any wildlife held in confinement, which reaches a serval. Whether a licence is actually required turns on board rules, and the chapter of the administrative code that used to carry the species categories has been repealed. Ask the state veterinarian.

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

Class I is defined by example rather than by list, 'inherently dangerous to humans such as wolves, bears, lions', so whether a serval is caught turns on a judgement the statute does not make. Not resolvable from the text.

How this rule works: Three classes. Class I is 'all species inherently dangerous to humans such as wolves, bears, lions and poisonous snakes', possessable only by zoos, circuses and commercial propagators. Class II is 'native species, except those listed in other classes'. Class III is everything else and needs no wildlife permit, only whatever the Department of Agriculture requires. The catch-all sitting at Class III rather than Class II is what makes Tennessee permissive.

Create a comprehensive list of dangerous wild animals, excluding wildlife, livestock and domestic animals as defined herein. The list may include, but not be limited to: (A) Bears; (B) Big cats; (C) Canids; (D) Primates; (E) Constrictor snakes greater than six feet, and venomous snakes; and (F) Alligators and caimans;

Big cats are the second item the board is pointed at. Whether a serval counts as a big cat is exactly the kind of question the missing list was meant to answer.

How this rule works: Unusual structure, and the reason most entries here are unclear. § 19-34-4 bans possession of a dangerous wild animal, but § 19-34-2 defines the term by character rather than by species and § 19-34-5 directs a three member board to create the actual list by legislative rule. The statute itself names no animal. Until that list is confirmed in force, the ban has no species attached to it.