Where is the squirrel monkey 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

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.

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.

Order Primates-Monkeys, Apes: All species (W), except humans in the Family Hominidae are not restricted.

The whole primate order is restricted, marked (W) for welfare. The caging standards let New World monkeys "such as squirrel, titis, and owl" held before 3 August 1989 stay in their approved housing, which is a housing allowance for old permittees and not a pet route. Animal Care, the only possession permit, requires lawful possession before January 1992.

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.

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.

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.

(iii) A member within the order Primate (including, but not limited to, capuchin, macaque, lemur and marmoset),

Every primate outside the great apes, which are Category One, is 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.

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.

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.

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.

Order Primates (monkeys, apes, etc) - All species;

Every primate needs a wild animal license, and licenses issue only to dealers and exhibitors under § 27-5-4(b)(1). The only primate permit in the statute is for a disability assistance capuchin. DNR's pet guide lists all primates among exotics that may not be held as pets.

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

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 "Cebidae (all species in family)", which includes the squirrel monkeys. Primates are excluded from Part B's private and commercial use, leaving research, government zoos, approved institutions and nonprofit primate sanctuaries. No pet route.

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.

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 defines a primate as any nonhuman member of the order, monkeys among the examples, and bars keeping one. The exceptions are zoos, licensed exhibits, circuses, colleges, research and veterinary bodies and refuges, not homes.

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.

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 squirrel monkeys belong to cebidae, one of the families the definition names. § 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.

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.

(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 squirrel monkey 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.

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.

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 squirrel monkey 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.

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.

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. Category 1 permits go only to exhibitors, rehabilitators, USDA-registered laboratories and accredited research facilities, so there is no pet route.

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.

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 monkeys 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.

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.

(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, monkeys named. 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.

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.

(4) The following mammals are classified as prohibited species: ... (g) Cebidae family (new world primates);

Squirrel monkeys are New World primates in Cebidae as the rule uses it, and the entry's own gloss, "new world primates", reaches them on any taxonomy, so no permit route exists for a private keeper.

How this rule works: 12.6.2205 is the noncontrolled list, 12.6.2208 the controlled list, 12.6.2215 the prohibited list. The noncontrolled definition at 12.6.2201(8) expressly preserves county and city ordinances.

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 squirrel monkey 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.

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.

(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 Primates to include: ... Squirrel Monkey Saimici spp

The primate row names the squirrel monkey. 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).

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.

The potentially dangerous species shall not be kept as a pet, for hobby purposes or in situations, which, in the judgment of the Department, could adversely affect the health of the animal or which could constitute a hazard to the public.

Squirrel monkeys are Cebidae, the first family on the potentially dangerous species table, and 4.9(a)3 says a potentially dangerous species may not be kept as a pet or for hobby purposes. No pet route.

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.

Primate (non-human) | Cebidae all species | Monkeys | IV | Federally Endangered

The Director's list puts the whole family Cebidae in Group IV, which takes in the squirrel monkeys, and a separate row puts all non-human primates there too. 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.

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.

Wild animal includes, and is limited to, any or all of the following orders and families: (1) Nonhuman primates and prosimians,

Every nonhuman primate is a wild animal that may not be kept as a pet, and 180.1(b)(9) lists them again 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.

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.

All non-human primates, including, but not limited to, monkey, ape, chimpanzee, gorilla and lemur.

Every nonhuman primate is prohibited, monkeys first among the examples. 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.

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.

(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.

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.

(7) The order Primates. All families of nonhuman primates.

The order Primates is on the prohibited list whole, and the permits that let a listed animal in go to menageries, dealers and propagators. No pet route.

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.

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 squirrel monkey 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.

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.

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.

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'.

(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.

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.

3.1.o. Nonhuman primates, excluding: 3.1.o.1. Lemurs; 3.1.o.2. Golden lion, black faced lion, golden-rumped lion, cotton top, emperor, saddlebacked, blackmantled, and Geoffroys tamarins;

Every nonhuman primate is on the Dangerous Wild Animal list unless one of eleven exclusions names it, and none names a squirrel monkey. § 19-34-4(a) bars possessing a listed animal, and the only permit in § 19-34-4(b) is for someone who already lawfully had it before the rules took effect, with § 19-34-6(b)(1) barring breeding, receiving or replacing one.

Existing owners: Lawfully possessed before the board's rules took effect, then permitted by the board, with no breeding, acquiring or replacing.

How this rule works: Unusual structure. § 19-34-4 bans possession of a dangerous wild animal, § 19-34-2 defines the term by character rather than by species, and § 19-34-5 directs a three member board to write the actual list by legislative rule. The statute names no animal, so it never answers anything on its own. The board did write the list: W. Va. C.S.R. § 74-1-3, effective 5 April 2022. Read that, and read W. Va. Code § 20-1-2 with § 20-2-4 for anything native, because this Act has nothing to say about a West Virginia species.

(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 squirrel monkey has no route.

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.

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 ... Squirrel Monkeys (Genus Saimiri)

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 squirrel monkey 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.

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".

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.

Primates are a class of exotic in Delaware and none is exempt, so a squirrel monkey 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.

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

Class III: All other wildlife not listed herein, except those for which a permit is not required pursuant to Rule 68A-6.003, F.A.C.

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. Saimiri 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.

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

All non-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).

The rule swaps its genera, filing Saimiri under "Marmoset" and the marmoset genera under "Squirrel Monkeys", but either way the squirrel monkey is exempt from the Department of Agriculture's AZA-only rule, by genus in .02 and by name in .04. Idaho Code § 36-202(g) defines wildlife as animal life "native or exotic, generally living in a state of nature", and the conventional pets list in 13.01.10.010.06 has no primate, so Fish and Game's captive possession license under 13.01.10.200.01 is still required, and 200.02 adds compliance with city and county ordinances.

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.

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." 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."

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.

if he or she keeps any lion, tiger, leopard, ocelot, jaguar, cheetah, margay, mountain lion, Canada lynx, bobcat, jaguarundi, hyena, wolf, bear, nonhuman primate, coyote, any deadly, dangerous, or poisonous reptile, or any deadly or dangerous reptile over eight feet long

"Nonhuman primate" is on Missouri's dangerous wild animal list, which does not ban it but makes it an offense to keep one without registering it with the local law enforcement agency in the county where it is kept. As a non-native mammal the squirrel monkey needs no Wildlife Code permit under 3 CSR 10-9.110(2), and the 4.117 prohibited species list has no primate.

How this rule works: Missouri does not ban these animals. It requires that they be registered with the local law enforcement agency in the county where they are kept. Failure to register is the offense.

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 squirrel monkey 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.

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: ... (5) Of the order Primates.

The whole order Primates is on the possession permit list, so a squirrel monkey 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.

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.

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 squirrel monkey 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.

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.

8. All nonhuman primates. Common names include: chimpanzees, gorillas, macaques, orangutans, and spider monkeys.

Every nonhuman primate is restricted live wildlife. 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.

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.

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's statute points two ways. R.C. 935.01(C)(19) makes a dangerous wild animal of "Nonhuman primates other than lemurs and the nonhuman primates specified in division (C)(20)", which on its words takes in squirrel monkeys, and dangerous wild animals cannot be newly acquired. But § 935.041, enacted in the same bill, singles out squirrel monkeys with the lemurs for registration with the director of agriculture, which only makes sense if they are not dangerous wild animals. If 935.041 governs, a registered animal is lawful; if (C)(19) governs, it is barred unless it was registered in 2012. Recorded unclear because the two sections cannot both be read at full strength.

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.