Exotic pet laws in Kentucky

§ 4(1)(j)

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

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

Cities and counties here can prohibit what state law permits, so check your local ordinance too.

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.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 4(1)(u)

Prairie dog (Cynomys spp.);

Cities and counties here can prohibit what state law permits, so check your local ordinance too.

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.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 4(1)(q)

Monk or Quaker parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus);

The permit-exempt list confirms the exclusion: it clears parrots, lovebirds, budgerigars, macaws and parakeets except the monk parakeet.

Cities and counties here can prohibit what state law permits, so check your local ordinance too.

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.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 2(3); § 3(2)(a)

Except as established in Sections 5(9) and 7(1) of this administrative regulation and subsections (4), (5), (6), and (9) of this section, a person holding native wildlife in captivity shall apply for and obtain the appropriate permit prior to acquiring wildlife.

The southern flying squirrel is a Kentucky native, so 301 KAR 2:082 does not reach it and 2:081 does. It is not on the § 6 prohibited natives list, which is bats, black bear, bobcat, cougar, otter, wild turkey, wolf, the rabies vector species and three herps, so a noncommercial captive wildlife permit under § 3(2)(a) is available to a private keeper and is required before acquiring the animal. Two conditions ride with it: § 2(2) bars buying or selling any native wildlife obtained from the wild, and § 5(6) limits a permit holder to a commercial permit holder, a gift, a legal trapping season or a legal out-of-state source under a transportation permit. The § 2(5) five-per-species free allowance is written for reptiles and amphibians only. § 2(9) says no captive wildlife permit is required "for captive-bred native wildlife legally imported or held in a temporary facility for ten (10) days or less", which on one reading would free an imported captive-bred squirrel outright; the ten-day clause reads more naturally as qualifying both limbs, so the permit is recorded as required.

How this rule works: The companion to 2:082 and the rule that reaches any Kentucky native. § 1(3) defines native wildlife as species that have historically existed, currently exist or have naturally expanded their range into Kentucky, "regardless of ... origin or location of an individual animal" and of "being captive-bred or taken from the wild", so captive breeding is no exit. § 2(3) then requires a captive wildlife permit before acquiring one, with a five-per-species free allowance for native reptiles and amphibians at § 2(5) and nothing comparable for mammals. § 3(2) is the noncommercial permit, § 4 the transportation permit, § 6 the prohibited natives.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.