Exotic pet laws in North Dakota

§ 36-01-08.4; NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(5)(a)

A person may not keep a skunk or raccoon in captivity. This section does not apply to a zoo licensed by the animal care program of the animal and plant health inspection service of the United States department of agriculture.

North Dakota bans the raccoon by statute, and the board's rule adds that raccoons "may not be imported into the state for any purpose" and sets out confiscation. The only exception is a USDA-licensed zoo.

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 license for nontraditional livestock, meaning any wildlife held in confinement. The wording is permissive but the board has used it: see NDAC article 48.1-09 for the three categories and the license, and § 36-01-00.1(3) for a definition of domestic animal that runs only to dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, bison, farmed elk, llamas, alpacas and swine.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

§ 36-01-08.4; NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(5)(a)

A person may not keep a skunk or raccoon in captivity. This section does not apply to a zoo licensed by the animal care program of the animal and plant health inspection service of the United States department of agriculture.

Banned by statute alongside the raccoon, with an import bar "for any purpose" in the board's rule. The only exception is a USDA-licensed zoo, so descenting or captive breeding makes no difference.

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 license for nontraditional livestock, meaning any wildlife held in confinement. The wording is permissive but the board has used it: see NDAC article 48.1-09 for the three categories and the license, and § 36-01-00.1(3) for a definition of domestic animal that runs only to dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, bison, farmed elk, llamas, alpacas and swine.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(3); 48.1-09-01-03(1)

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.

Bears are category 3, the inherently dangerous tier, but category 3 is licensed on the same footing as category 2: a license before acquisition and an approved premises. The rule writes no pet exclusion.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(2)(b); 48.1-09-01-03(1)

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, waterfowl, shorebirds, upland game birds not listed in category 1, crows, wolverines, otters, bats, martens, fishers, kit or swift foxes, badgers, coyotes, mink, red and gray foxes

"Otters" is in the category 2 list without a species limit, so the license is required before acquiring one, with the premises inspected first. CITES Appendix I since 2019 bars commercial international trade.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(2)(b); 48.1-09-01-03(1)

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 Asian leopard cat is a category 2 cat and a Bengal 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 Bengal registered 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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(2)(b), (3)(b); 48.1-09-01-03(1)

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, waterfowl, shorebirds, upland game birds not listed in category 1, crows, wolverines, otters, bats, martens, fishers, kit or swift foxes, badgers, coyotes, mink, red and gray foxes

Category 3 names only the big cats, so the bobcat is a "nondomestic cat not listed in category 3" and falls to category 2, the same place as the serval. The license must be in hand before acquiring the animal, with the premises approved first.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(5); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2)

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.

Category 3 now reaches "nonvenomous injurious reptiles". The rule does not define injurious, but the Burmese python is federal injurious wildlife and a giant constrictor on any plain reading of the word, so it 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. Federally, the Burmese python has been injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act since 2012 (50 CFR 16.15(a)), which bars importing one into the country or shipping one to Hawaii or a territory; USARK v. Zinke (D.C. Cir. 2017) held it does not bar shipment between the continental states.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(2)(b), (3)(b); 48.1-09-01-03(1)

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, waterfowl, shorebirds, upland game birds not listed in category 1, crows, wolverines, otters, bats, martens, fishers, kit or swift foxes, badgers, coyotes, mink, red and gray foxes

A nondomestic cat not among the big cats in category 3, so category 2: a license before acquisition and an approved premises. The Canada lynx is federally threatened in the lower 48, which adds a federal permit for moving one across state lines in commerce.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(6); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2); NDCC 36-01-08.4

b. Category 3 species of nontraditional livestock includes the following species and their hybrids: ... (2) Big cats, including mountain lion, jaguar, leopard, lion, tiger, and cheetah. (3) Bears. (4) Wolves. (5) Venomous reptiles and nonvenomous injurious reptiles. (6) Primates.

Primates are category 3 nontraditional livestock, so a capuchin 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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(5); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2)

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.

Venomous reptiles are category 3 nontraditional livestock, so a cobra 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. The king cobra and the Asian Naja species are on CITES Appendix II, which governs import and export, not keeping.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(6); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2); NDCC 36-01-08.4

b. Category 3 species of nontraditional livestock includes the following species and their hybrids: ... (2) Big cats, including mountain lion, jaguar, leopard, lion, tiger, and cheetah. (3) Bears. (4) Wolves. (5) Venomous reptiles and nonvenomous injurious reptiles. (6) Primates.

Primates are category 3 nontraditional livestock, so a marmoset 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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(2); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2); NDCC 36-01-08.2

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.

The mountain lion is the first of the category 3 big cats. 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 36-01-08.2 adds an identification number from the board, tattooed inside the ear. Federally, the Big Cat Public Safety Act of 2022 (16 U.S.C. § 3372(e)) bars any person outside a licensed exhibitor, sanctuary or state institution from breeding or possessing a cougar unless the animal was born before December 20, 2022, and registered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within 180 days, so no new pet is lawful anywhere in the country whatever the state rule says. The Florida panther subspecies is also endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(5); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2)

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.

Category 3 now reaches "nonvenomous injurious reptiles". The rule does not define injurious, but the green anaconda is federal injurious wildlife and a giant constrictor on any plain reading of the word, so it 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. Federally, the green anaconda has been injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act since 2015 (50 CFR 16.15(a)), which bars importing one into the country or shipping one to Hawaii or a territory; USARK v. Zinke (D.C. Cir. 2017) held it does not bar shipment between the continental states.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(2); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2)

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.

The lion is named among the category 3 big cats. 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. Federally, the Big Cat Public Safety Act of 2022 (16 U.S.C. § 3372(e)) bars any person outside a licensed exhibitor, sanctuary or state institution from breeding or possessing a lion unless the animal was born before December 20, 2022, and registered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within 180 days, so no new pet is lawful anywhere in the country whatever the state rule says.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(2)(b); 48.1-09-01-03(1)

Category 2 species of nontraditional livestock includes ... prairie dogs, and other ground squirrels

Named in category 2, so a license from the state board of animal health is required, and 48.1-09-01-03(1) says the owner shall obtain it before acquiring the animal. The board also has to inspect and approve the premises first under 48.1-09-01-03(2)(b), and the annual fee under NDCC 36-01-08.1 is fifteen dollars for a non-bird species to a hundred dollar cap.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(5); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2)

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.

Venomous reptiles are category 3 nontraditional livestock, so a rattlesnake 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.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(1)(b), (2)(b); 48.1-09-01-03(1)

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, waterfowl, shorebirds, upland game birds not listed in category 1, crows, wolverines, otters, bats, martens, fishers, kit or swift foxes, badgers, coyotes, mink, red and gray foxes

Red foxes are named in category 2, so a license is needed before acquiring one, with the premises inspected first. Category 1, which needs no license, includes "ranch foxes", a term the rule does not define; a red fox from a fur ranch, in a ranch color phase, may sit there instead. A wild-type red fox is plainly category 2.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(5); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2)

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.

Category 3 now reaches "nonvenomous injurious reptiles". The rule does not define injurious, but the reticulated python is federal injurious wildlife and a giant constrictor on any plain reading of the word, so it 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. Federally, the reticulated python has been injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act since 2015 (50 CFR 16.15(a)), which bars importing one into the country or shipping one to Hawaii or a territory; USARK v. Zinke (D.C. Cir. 2017) held it does not bar shipment between the continental states.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(6); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2); NDCC 36-01-08.4

b. Category 3 species of nontraditional livestock includes the following species and their hybrids: ... (2) Big cats, including mountain lion, jaguar, leopard, lion, tiger, and cheetah. (3) Bears. (4) Wolves. (5) Venomous reptiles and nonvenomous injurious reptiles. (6) Primates.

Primates are category 3 nontraditional livestock, so a ring-tailed lemur needs a license. The owner must hold a nontraditional livestock license from the Board of Animal Health before acquiring one, and the board must inspect and approve the premises first, under 48.1-09-01-03(1) and (2)(b). The annual fee is fifteen dollars under NDCC 36-01-08.1. NDCC 36-01-08.4 also directs the board to adopt rules on keeping primates. Lemur catta is on CITES Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade, so a pet lemur here can only come from captive breeding inside the country, and the whole family Lemuridae is listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR 17.11).

How this rule works: The nontraditional livestock category system is alive and sits here, not in the repealed title 48. 48.1-09-01-02 sorts every nondomestic species held in confinement into three categories, category 1 needing no license and categories 2 and 3 needing one before the animal is acquired. Subsection 4 exempts arachnids and invertebrates from even the importation permit, along with a short list of small pets named one by one: gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, rats and sugar gliders. The Board of Animal Health's own page (https://www.ndda.nd.gov/divisions/animal-health/non-traditional-livestock) files that list under Exempt Animals and calls them exempt from non-traditional livestock requirements and importation requirements. Last amended April 1, 2026.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(2)(b); 48.1-09-01-03(1)

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(2)(b); 48.1-09-01-03(1)

Category 2 species of nontraditional livestock includes ... nondomestic cats not listed in category 3

Category 3 names the big cats, mountain lion, jaguar, leopard, lion, tiger and cheetah, and the serval is not one of them, so it falls to category 2 as a nondomestic cat and needs a license before it is acquired, with a premises inspection first.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(6); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2); NDCC 36-01-08.4

b. Category 3 species of nontraditional livestock includes the following species and their hybrids: ... (2) Big cats, including mountain lion, jaguar, leopard, lion, tiger, and cheetah. (3) Bears. (4) Wolves. (5) Venomous reptiles and nonvenomous injurious reptiles. (6) Primates.

Primates are category 3 nontraditional livestock, so a 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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(2); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2)

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.

The tiger is named among the category 3 big cats. 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. Federally, the Big Cat Public Safety Act of 2022 (16 U.S.C. § 3372(e)) bars any person outside a licensed exhibitor, sanctuary or state institution from breeding or possessing a tiger unless the animal was born before December 20, 2022, and registered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within 180 days, so no new pet is lawful anywhere in the country whatever the state rule says.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(2)(b); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2)

Category 2 species of nontraditional livestock includes the following species and their hybrids, all nondomestic ungulates, ... mink, red and gray foxes, muskrats, beavers, weasels, opossums, prairie dogs, and other ground squirrels,

Opossums are category 2 nontraditional livestock by name. 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.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(2)(b); 48.1-09-01-03(1), (2)

Category 2 species of nontraditional livestock includes the following species and their hybrids, all nondomestic ungulates, including all deer (cervidae) and pronghorn,

All deer are category 2 nontraditional livestock, and NDCC 36-01-00.1(4) makes any wildlife held in a manmade enclosure nontraditional livestock, so a captive white-tailed deer comes under the Board of Animal Health. 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.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(4); NDCC §§ 36-01-08.2, 36-01-08.4

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.

Category 3 covers wolves "and their hybrids", and the Century Code defines a wolf hybrid as "any animal that is any part wolf", so no low percentage escapes. A category 3 license is needed before acquiring one, and § 36-01-08.2 also requires a board identification number tattooed inside the ear.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(5), (6); 48.1-09-02-01

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.

A American alligator is nonvenomous and not on the federal injurious wildlife list, so whether it is a "nonvenomous injurious reptile" in category 3 depends on what the undefined word means. If it means federally listed, the animal is in no category and needs only an importation permit number and a veterinary certificate, plus the board review 48.1-09-01-02(6) requires for an unlisted species. If it means harmful, a crocodilian is the obvious case and needs a license.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(1)(b), (2)(b), (6)

Nontraditional livestock not otherwise referred to in this section or Century Code must be reviewed by the board for determination of importation requirements and licensure requirements prior to importation.

The foxes the rule names are ranch foxes in category 1, and kit, swift, red and gray foxes in category 2. The arctic fox is in neither list by name. It is farmed for fur as the blue fox, so one from a fur ranch arguably counts as a category 1 "ranch fox" needing no license; otherwise subsection 6 sends it to the board for review before import. Same gap as the fennec fox.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

§ 36-01-08.1

"Nontraditional livestock" means any wildlife held in a cage, fence, enclosure, or other manmade means of confinement that limits its movement within definite boundaries

Inside the nontraditional livestock definition, with no rule currently attaching a license.

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 license for nontraditional livestock, meaning any wildlife held in confinement. The wording is permissive but the board has used it: see NDAC article 48.1-09 for the three categories and the license, and § 36-01-00.1(3) for a definition of domestic animal that runs only to dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, bison, farmed elk, llamas, alpacas and swine.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

§ 36-01-08.1

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

Same gap as the serval. Note that the statute bans skunks and raccoons outright and singles out wolves for tattooing, so foxes sit between the two and are named in neither.

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 license for nontraditional livestock, meaning any wildlife held in confinement. The wording is permissive but the board has used it: see NDAC article 48.1-09 for the three categories and the license, and § 36-01-00.1(3) for a definition of domestic animal that runs only to dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, bison, farmed elk, llamas, alpacas and swine.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(6); NDCC § 36-01-08.1

Nontraditional livestock not otherwise referred to in this section or Century Code must be reviewed by the board for determination of importation requirements and licensure requirements prior to importation.

The kinkajou is in none of the three categories, and nothing in the Century Code names it. An unlisted animal is not free, though: subsection 6 sends it to the board to set importation and licensure requirements before it comes in, so the answer is whatever the board decides on the application.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(3)(b)(5), (6); 48.1-09-02-01

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.

A spectacled caiman is nonvenomous and not on the federal injurious wildlife list, so whether it is a "nonvenomous injurious reptile" in category 3 depends on what the undefined word means. If it means federally listed, the animal is in no category and needs only an importation permit number and a veterinary certificate, plus the board review 48.1-09-01-02(6) requires for an unlisted species. If it means harmful, a crocodilian is the obvious case and needs a license.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.

NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(6); NDCC § 36-01-08.1

Nontraditional livestock not otherwise referred to in this section or Century Code must be reviewed by the board for determination of importation requirements and licensure requirements prior to importation.

Not named in any category. Subsection 6 requires board review of importation and licensure requirements before an unlisted animal is imported, so the outcome is set case by case.

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.

Checked against the published text on October 1, 2026.