Exotic pet laws in Tennessee

§ 70-4-403(1)(A)(ii)(a), (3); § 70-4-404(c)(1)

Class I--This class includes all species inherently dangerous to humans. ... The following is a listing of animals considered inherently dangerous: (A) Mammals: (i) Primates--Gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, gibbons, siamangs, mandrills, drills, baboons, Gelada baboons; (ii) Carnivores: (a) Wolves--All species; (b) Bears--All species; and (c) Lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, cougars--All species;

The only canids in Class I are the wolves, "all species", and the fennec fox is a Vulpes rather than a Canis. Tennessee names no fox anywhere in the classification, which is a real contrast with Maryland, where the bare word "fox" is the whole of the ban. On the statute alone the fennec fox is Class III under the catch-all and needs no permit. What could not be checked is the commission's own rules. Section 70-4-403(1) gives the commission, with the commissioner of agriculture, express power to add or delete species from the Class I list by regulation, and Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1660-01-18 is where such an addition would sit. That chapter could not be read here: publications.tnsosfiles.com returns 403 to this container on every path, and Tennessee's official code is behind LexisNexis. Recorded unclear on that gap rather than on the statute, which is the improvement over the previous note here; the statute itself is readable and does not reach this animal. What rides on it is more than paperwork. Section 70-4-404(c)(1) closed personal possession of Class I wildlife in 1991: the permit it describes is for people who already held the animal on 25 June 1991, "no new animals shall be brought into possession under authority of a personal possession permit", and the subsection ends by saying it "shall not be construed to authorize new personal possession of Class I wildlife". TWRA restates it in one line on its permits page: "Personal possession of any Class 1 species is not allowed." So an addition by rule would not mean a $150 permit for a private keeper. It would mean no.

How this rule works: Five classes. Class I is a specific list of inherently dangerous animals, possessable only by zoos, circuses and commercial propagators. Class II is "native species, except those listed in other classes". Class III "requires no permits except those required by the department of agriculture, and includes all species not listed in other classes", followed by seventeen illustrative subdivisions. Class IV is black bear, white-tailed deer and wild turkey; Class V is whatever the commission designates as injurious. The catch-all sitting at Class III rather than Class II is what makes Tennessee permissive, and the exception clause in Class II is what keeps native reptiles out of it. Tennessee's official code is behind LexisNexis and publications.tnsosfiles.com refuses this container, so the wording here was taken from two independent reproductions that agree: animallaw.info, which carries the current post-2024 text, and lawserver.com, whose copy is marked effective until 1 July 2024 and differs only in the snake clause, which the 2024 amendment changed from "poisonous" to "venomous".

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

§ 70-4-403(3)(F), (5)

Class III--This class requires no permits except those required by the department of agriculture, and includes all species not listed in other classes and includes, but is not limited to, those listed in subdivisions (3)(A)-(Q). ... Avian species not otherwise listed, excluding North American game birds, ostriches and cassowary

The statute does not reach the monk parakeet. It is named nowhere in the five classes, and the avian catch-all at (3)(F) puts it in the no-permit class. What keeps this unresolved is Class V, which is not a list at all but whatever the commission designates by rule as injurious to the environment, and an agricultural pest bird is exactly what a Class V designation is for. Those designations live in Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1660-01-18, Rules and Regulations of Live Wildlife, which could not be read here: publications.tnsosfiles.com, sos.tn.gov and tnsos.org all sit behind a filter that returns 403 to this container, and Tennessee's official code is behind LexisNexis. Tennessee appears on most circulated lists of states banning the monk parakeet, and if that is right the rule chapter is where it comes from. Recorded unclear rather than legal because the statute alone cannot settle a question the commission was given the power to answer elsewhere.

How this rule works: Five classes. Class I is a specific list of inherently dangerous animals, possessable only by zoos, circuses and commercial propagators. Class II is "native species, except those listed in other classes". Class III "requires no permits except those required by the department of agriculture, and includes all species not listed in other classes", followed by seventeen illustrative subdivisions. Class IV is black bear, white-tailed deer and wild turkey; Class V is whatever the commission designates as injurious. The catch-all sitting at Class III rather than Class II is what makes Tennessee permissive, and the exception clause in Class II is what keeps native reptiles out of it. Tennessee's official code is behind LexisNexis and publications.tnsosfiles.com refuses this container, so the wording here was taken from two independent reproductions that agree: animallaw.info, which carries the current post-2024 text, and lawserver.com, whose copy is marked effective until 1 July 2024 and differs only in the snake clause, which the 2024 amendment changed from "poisonous" to "venomous".

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

§ 70-4-403(1)(A)(ii)(c), (3); § 70-4-404(c)(1)

Class I--This class includes all species inherently dangerous to humans. ... The following is a listing of animals considered inherently dangerous: (A) Mammals: (i) Primates--Gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, gibbons, siamangs, mandrills, drills, baboons, Gelada baboons; (ii) Carnivores: (a) Wolves--All species; (b) Bears--All species; and (c) Lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, cougars--All species;

The Class I cat entry names six kinds and the serval is none of them: lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs and cougars, each "all species". Leptailurus serval is not a Panthera, an Acinonyx or a Puma, and the statute names no other felid. On the statute alone the serval is Class III under the catch-all and needs no permit, and Tennessee reinforces that reading two subdivisions later by putting bobcat hybrids in Class III expressly. What could not be checked is the commission's own rules. Section 70-4-403(1) gives the commission, with the commissioner of agriculture, express power to add or delete species from the Class I list by regulation, and Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1660-01-18 is where such an addition would sit. That chapter could not be read here: publications.tnsosfiles.com returns 403 to this container on every path, and Tennessee's official code is behind LexisNexis. Recorded unclear on that gap rather than on the statute, which is the improvement over the previous note here; the statute itself is readable and does not reach this animal. What rides on it is more than paperwork. Section 70-4-404(c)(1) closed personal possession of Class I wildlife in 1991: the permit it describes is for people who already held the animal on 25 June 1991, "no new animals shall be brought into possession under authority of a personal possession permit", and the subsection ends by saying it "shall not be construed to authorize new personal possession of Class I wildlife". TWRA restates it in one line on its permits page: "Personal possession of any Class 1 species is not allowed." So an addition by rule would not mean a $150 permit for a private keeper. It would mean no.

How this rule works: Five classes. Class I is a specific list of inherently dangerous animals, possessable only by zoos, circuses and commercial propagators. Class II is "native species, except those listed in other classes". Class III "requires no permits except those required by the department of agriculture, and includes all species not listed in other classes", followed by seventeen illustrative subdivisions. Class IV is black bear, white-tailed deer and wild turkey; Class V is whatever the commission designates as injurious. The catch-all sitting at Class III rather than Class II is what makes Tennessee permissive, and the exception clause in Class II is what keeps native reptiles out of it. Tennessee's official code is behind LexisNexis and publications.tnsosfiles.com refuses this container, so the wording here was taken from two independent reproductions that agree: animallaw.info, which carries the current post-2024 text, and lawserver.com, whose copy is marked effective until 1 July 2024 and differs only in the snake clause, which the 2024 amendment changed from "poisonous" to "venomous".

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.