Where is the white-tailed deer legal?

Any of the following from any area outside the state of Alabama; any member of the family Cervidae (to include but not be limited to deer, elk, moose, caribou),

A deer from outside Alabama is barred, and in-state transport of any listed species is barred except by a licensed game breeder under Code § 9-11-31. An Alabama deer is a designated game animal that § (3) bars keeping alive; § (3) says possession does not include wild deer behind natural or man-made barriers that are not managed like domesticated animals.

How this rule works: Alabama's prohibited list, not a permitted one, so absence from it means an animal is unrestricted. The official code site is a React app that serves nothing to a fetcher, but /api/rule/<number> returns the current rule as a PDF; use it, because Cornell LII's copy is the 2020 version and the current one differs. Two clauses do most of the work: everything the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act is banned by reference, and a block of mammals is banned when it comes from outside Alabama.

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). The clean list's only cervids are reindeer and elk, the elk only outside feral and wild animals, so a white-tailed deer is absent from it, and subsection (c) bars a pet permit.

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.

Deer that were captured by hand prior to July 1, 2012, may be retained until their death.

Arkansas closed both pet routes for deer. A hand-captured deer counts only if it was caught before 1 July 2012, a captive-born white-tailed deer only if it was acquired before 30 June 2005 and registered by 30 June 2008, and Addendum R1.03 lists "Cervids (Family Cervidae)" among the species the Commission will not permit for breeding, sale or importation. A grandfathered deer must be tested for CWD when it dies and kept behind an 8-foot fence.

Existing owners: A deer caught by hand in Arkansas before 1 July 2012 may be kept until it dies, and a captive-born white-tailed deer acquired before 30 June 2005 and registered by 30 June 2008 may be kept too, both within the six-per-household limit.

How this rule works: Code 09.01 makes it unlawful to hold any live wildlife captive unless otherwise specified, and its exceptions include terrestrial invertebrates. Code 09.02 conditions non-native wildlife on sourcing and veterinary certification. Code 09.14 caps native wildlife pets at six per household. Chapter 01.00 supplies the two definitions that decide the rest: WILDLIFE reaches "all other wild animals, regardless of classification", and WILD means "living in a state of nature and not domesticated". Addendum R1.02 closes with "Species not listed in Addenda R1.01, R1.02, or R1.03 are prohibited until evaluated", so absence is a bar rather than a silence.

Order Artiodactyla-Swine, Peccaries, Camels, Deer, Elk, Moose, Antelopes, Cattle, Goats, Sheep, etc. All species (D) except:

Every even-toed hoofed animal is restricted, marked (D) for detrimental, and deer are named in the heading. The exceptions are domestic livestock, camelids, camels and American bison, with permit provisions for elk already in the state and for commercial fallow deer; no route reaches a white-tailed deer, which is not a California native.

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.

5. All species and hybrids of wild species in the family Cervidae not designated as alternative livestock by §35-41.5-102 C.R.S. or as domestic or unregulated wildlife by Chapter W-11 of these regulations.

Every deer that is not alternative livestock or on the W-11 lists is prohibited, and the only cervids those carve outs reach are the elk and fallow deer kept as alternative livestock and the reindeer on the domestic list. The white-tailed deer is none of them. Only commercial parks licensed for an authorized species on or before 2 March 2014 may continue. Colorado's chronic wasting disease rules for captive cervids sit in Chapter W-11 and govern parks, not pets.

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.

"State regulations explicitly forbid Delawareans from owning" "native wildlife," "with an exception for wildlife rehabilitation experts, who must hold permits from DNREC to care for the animals."

The white-tailed deer is native to Delaware. Captive cervid and chronic wasting disease rules, which would govern a farmed herd, were not read here. Native wildlife is DNREC's, not the Department of Agriculture's, so the exotic animal permit does not reach it, and DNREC says keeping native wildlife is not allowed outside its rehabilitation permits. The regulation DNREC refers to was not read here.

How this rule works: The enforcing agency's own reading. It says state regulations "explicitly forbid Delawareans from owning" native wildlife, with an exception for permitted rehabilitators, and that when asked about skunks from out-of-state breeders "the agency informs the inquirer this is not allowed". The site refuses curl from this container and was read through WebFetch.

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 deer fits any of the District's seven categories. The only hoofed animals the section lets in are goats and sheep brought in temporarily for grazing, demonstrations and similar activities. 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.

The following list of species native to Georgia may not be held as a pet regardless of its origin or morphology. ... White-tailed Deer

DNR names the white-tailed deer on its native list. The only captive route in the statute is a deer-farming license, under which § 27-5-4(a) says farmed deer need no wild animal license; that is an agricultural license, not a pet one.

How this rule works: The agency page that answers the native half of Georgia, which the wild animal rule does not reach. It states the operative rule in one line, "By Georgia Law, most native species of wildlife cannot be held without permits or licenses. These licenses are not issued for the purpose of holding native wildlife as pets", and adds the sentence that closes the captive-bred argument: "These restrictions apply to the various species of animal, regardless of the origin or morphology." It then lists native species that may not be held as a pet, among them the corn snake, milksnake, garter snake, green anole, both hognose snakes, all four box turtles and the flying squirrel. Two limits are worth carrying: the list says of itself that it "does not include all native wildlife that is prohibited", and a separate paragraph names the natives Georgia does allow to be taken, "rats, mice, armadillos, coyotes, groundhogs, beaver, freshwater turtles, venomous snakes, frogs, spring lizards, fiddler crabs, freshwater crayfish, freshwater mussels, and nutria".

The introduction into Hawaii of live animals or live non-domestic animals as defined in this chapter at any stage of development is prohibited except for those animals on the lists incorporated in §4-71-6.5, by permit, and except as provided by section 150A-6.2, HRS.

Hawaii lists deer one species at a time: Part A names the sika, fallow, two muntjacs and the black-tailed deer, Part B the axis deer, elk and reindeer. The white-tailed deer is on none of the lists, so the default bar applies, and the special permits for unlisted animals are for emergencies, research and filming. 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.

a.Except as specified herein, licenses will not be issued. Licenses will not be issued unless pens are completed and complete applications are received in the Wildlife Division Baton Rouge Office by 4:30 p.m. October 4, 2002.

A white-tailed deer is a game quadruped, which may be held only under a game breeder's license issued before the animal is obtained, and the deer section of that rule closed new licenses with applications received by 4 October 2002 and bars any license in metropolitan or urban areas. § 117 bars importing a live white-tailed deer, and game quadrupeds may not be taken from the wild.

Existing owners: Game breeders holding a valid deer license from before the prohibition are grandfathered and may renew if they meet the requirements; a license transfers only to immediate family, and only if the pen stays where it is.

How this rule works: The rule that reaches a native Louisiana mammal kept as a pet. § 107(C)(2)(a): "A game breeder's license must be issued before any game quadrupeds (deer, rabbits, squirrels, etc.) are obtained", and § 107(C)(1)(a) bars taking them from the wild at all. § 107(B)(6) writes pen specifications for "Squirrels (gray, fox, red, flying and others endemic to North America)" by name, so the flying squirrel is expressly inside the scheme rather than caught by inference.

Family Cervidae All Species in Family Cervidae (Deer) ... 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.

Every deer is Category 1. The white-tailed deer is Maine's own game animal, and the wild-take exemption in 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-B) does not reach mammals. Deer farming in Maine runs under separate agricultural and disease rules that were not read here. 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.

(b) A special permit may not be issued to take or possess wild or native deer for exhibition, propagation, or as pets.

Deer are big game and so protected wild animals, and the special permit that lets the DNR allow other protected animals as pets is closed to deer by name. Farmed cervids are a separate scheme under the Board of Animal Health and the chronic wasting disease laws, which were not read here; that is a farm registration, not a pet route.

How this rule works: Subd. 8, added in 2021, is the pet reptile rule: the commissioner must prescribe conditions and may issue breeder permits, and a snake, lizard or salamander is possessable as a pet if it came from a permitted breeder or was held before 1 August 2021. Subd. 3 is the older, broader route, allowing special permits without a fee to possess wild animals as pets.

1. No person may possess a live white-tailed deer in Mississippi unless that person possesses a valid permit issued by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP).

The permit Rule 8.2 means is for a registered high-fenced enclosure, and captive breeding is allowed only in pens of up to five acres inside an enclosure of at least 300 contiguous acres. No live white-tailed deer may be sold, none may be imported, and none may be moved from the wild into an enclosure, and Rule 8.4 bars possessing a live deer outside a permitted enclosure. So there is no route to a pet deer.

How this rule works: No person may possess a live white-tailed deer without an MDWFP permit, sell one, or import one. Captive breeding is permitted only in breeding pens of up to five acres inside a registered high-fenced enclosure of at least 300 contiguous acres, and deer may not be moved from the wild into an enclosure.

(1) A person may not operate an alternative livestock ranch in this state without having first obtained an alternative livestock ranch license from the department prior to November 7, 2000. A person may not apply for or be granted a license after that date.

A privately owned white-tailed deer is "alternative livestock" under § 87-4-406(1), which may be kept only on a licensed alternative livestock ranch, and Initiative 143 closed licensing on 7 November 2000.

Existing owners: Alternative livestock ranches licensed before 7 November 2000 may keep and renew their licenses, which are not transferable.

How this rule works: § 87-4-406(1) makes a privately owned white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and other native ungulates alternative livestock and sends black bears and mountain lions to Part 8. § 87-4-407(1), from Initiative 143, bars operating an alternative livestock ranch without a license obtained before 7 November 2000 and bars any license after that date.

001.07A It shall be unlawful, except under provisions of 001.01A, for any person, partnership, association or corporation to import into the state, possess, retain in captivity, or release to the wild any of the species listed below, ... 001.07A2 White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) constitutes both economic and ecologic threat.

The white-tailed deer appears on the § 001.01B list only with a pointer to § 001.07, and § 001.07A makes it a restricted species that may not be imported, possessed or kept in captivity, the only exception being the commission's plans under § 001.01A for wild cervids found inside a captive cervine facility. The grandfather in § 001.07B covers mule deer and wild pigs, not whitetails. The Department of Agriculture's domesticated cervine law was not read.

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.

the importation, transportation or possession of the following species of live wildlife or hybrids thereof, including viable embryos or gametes, is prohibited: ... (1)Deer, elk, wapiti, moose and caribou. All species in the family Cervidae

Every member of the deer family is on the prohibited list. Permits for a prohibited species go only to accredited zoos and aquaria, colleges, universities and government agencies for research, other scientific institutions, commercial aquaculture, and nonprofits that exhibit wildlife solely for education or science, so there is no pet route.

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

(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 Deer, White-tailed Odocoileus virginianus

The white-tailed deer row is category 5 only, while red deer, sika and elk are open to propagators (category 2). So no possession permit can issue to an individual under Fis 800. A deer farming rule outside this chapter was not read.

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 possession of potentially dangerous species (non-domestic dogs, bears, non-domestic cats and deer) will be allowed only within the scientific holding, propagation and sales, zoological, animal exhibitor, animal theatrical and fur farming categories.

The white-tailed deer is a game animal needing a possession permit under 10.6(a)21, and Cervidae is on the potentially dangerous table at 10.10(a). The Division's synopsis closes the hobby category to every potentially dangerous species and lets only hobbyists already holding one keep it, with no new acquisitions. The same document announces a ban on importing any member of the deer family because of chronic wasting disease, in effect until further notice.

Existing owners: Hobby permittees who were issued permits several years ago and still hold potentially dangerous game animals may keep them, but no additional acquisitions are allowed.

How this rule works: The rule that answers New Jersey's native furbearers, which subchapter 4 never reaches because it governs only exotic and nongame species and these have trapping seasons. 10.5(a) bars possessing any game animal without a permit, 10.6(a) names the raccoon, striped skunk, red and gray fox, coyote, black bear and bobcat, and 10.7(a)1 offers an Individual Hobby permit "for hobby purposes or as pets". 10.8(a)1 requires the animal not to be of wild origin. 10.10 makes nondomestic dogs, bears and nondomestic cats potentially dangerous, and 10.11(a)6 says they "may not be kept as a household pet except when compelled by the infancy of the animal".

Ungulates | Cervidae all species | Deer (any type) | IV | State Protected Species

Every deer is in Group IV and flagged as a state protected species. New Mexico's captive cervid and disease rules were not read here. 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.

"Big game" means deer, bear, moose, elk, except captive bred and raised North American elk (Cervus elaphus), caribou and antelope.

Deer are big game by name, and the one captive-bred carve out in the definition is for elk, not deer. New York's deer farming and chronic wasting disease rules sit elsewhere in the law and were not read here. Game is 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", so a captive-bred animal from another state is in the same position as one caught here. The only possession license, § 11-0515, is for propagation, banding, scientific or exhibition purposes, not pets.

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 even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla) including, but not limited to, deer, antelope, sheep, pigs, including pot bellied pigs, goats, cattle, giraffe and hippopotamus. Such prohibition shall not affect persons who keep livestock in accordance with applicable law.

Deer are the first animal the ungulate clause names. The livestock saving reaches animals kept as livestock under other law, which is not a pet deer, and a white-tailed deer is also state wildlife caught by (b)(ii). 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.

It is unlawful for a person to possess live wildlife taken from a wild state within this Commonwealth

The white-tailed deer is Pennsylvania's principal game animal, and both doors are shut: § 137.31(a) bars keeping one taken from the wild and § 137.1(a)(11) bars one captive bred in another state. Captive deer farming is a separate, agricultural scheme: § 137.35, the chronic wasting disease rule, says it does not extend to captive cervids held under the Domestic Animal Law, 3 Pa.C.S. Chapter 23, and the Commission will issue no new permit to possess or transport live cervids inside a disease management area. A farmed herd is not a 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.

The possession of native mammals is restricted to those institutions identified within § 3.7(C) of this Part, and as exempted per § 3.8 of this Part. Terrestrial mammals considered native either currently or historically to Rhode Island and which possession as pets is prohibited include the following: ... (45) White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus),

Named on the native mammal list, which § 3.7(C) restricts to the Department, researchers, AZA zoos and short-term USDA exhibitors. § 3.17(A)(6)(b) adds that importing or possessing any native or exotic cervid needs a permit under the separate cervid rule, Part 60-00-2, which was not read here and does not open the native list.

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.

(4) Class IV--This class includes those native species that may be possessed only by zoos and temporary exhibitors; provided, that rehabilitation facilities may possess Class IV wildlife as provided by rules established by the commission if authorized by a letter from the director of the agency: ... (B) White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus);

Named in Class IV, which only zoos and temporary exhibitors may hold, with rehabilitators allowed by letter. Class III takes other cervids "except white-tailed deer and wild elk", which shuts the farm route that farmed elk have.

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".

Prohibited mammals ... known detrimental impacts to native wildlife populations, human health and safety, or agriculture. Personal possession will not be authorized. ... White-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus

Utah lists the white-tailed deer among the big game on its prohibited mammal list. Elk held privately are on the domestic list and fallow deer are controlled, but no route reaches a white-tailed deer.

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'.

To hunt, trap, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture, or kill, possess, deliver for transportation, transport, cause to be transported, by any means whatever, receive for transportation or export, or import, at any time or in any manner, any wild bird or wild animal or the carcass or any part thereof, except as specifically permitted by law and only by the manner or means and within the numbers stated.

The white-tailed deer is on the department's list of native fauna, and the exotic table separately lists "Cervidae All Species Deer*" for nonnative deer. Because it is native it is not a nonnative (exotic) animal, so the permit table at 4VAC15-30-40 is not its rule; § 29.1-521(A)(10) is, and it bars possessing a wild animal except as specifically permitted. The one-per-address allowance at 4VAC15-360-10(A) reaches herps, aquatic invertebrates and nongame fish, not mammals.

How this rule works: Subsection (A)(10) makes it unlawful to possess, transport or import any wild bird or wild animal except as specifically permitted by law.

It is unlawful to import into the state, hold, possess, propagate, offer for sale, sell, transfer, or release live specimens of or the gametes and/or embryos of the following species in the family Cervidae . ... White-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus

Washington names the white-tailed deer among its native cervids that may not be imported, held, possessed or propagated. The only route the rule writes is subsection (8), written department approval for scientific research by an approved institution or display by an AZA, ZAA or similarly accredited member, and (9) for federally listed species does not apply. No pet route.

How this rule works: The sentence that decides most of Washington is subsection (74): "Wildlife means all species of the animal kingdom whose members exist in Washington in a wild state." The list that follows is inclusive down to invertebrates, so the taxonomic reach is total, and the qualifier is geographic: a species that does not live wild in Washington is not Washington wildlife at all. Subsection (72) does the same for "wild animals", class Mammalia, and expressly drops feral domestic mammals and old world rats and mice. The other half of the scheme is subsection (13), deleterious exotic wildlife, which is a designated list rather than a category: WAC 220-640-200 designates the mute swan, mongooses, wild boar, javelina, six bovid genera and a run of cervids, and nothing else.

There shall be no private ownership, private importation or private possession of live big or trophy game animals, except as otherwise specified in this regulation.

Deer are "big game animals" by statute, and § 11(a) bars private ownership of live big game outright.

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.

Fox, skunks, bats, raccoons, or whitetail deer taken from the wild shall not be possessed as personal use wildlife and shall be possessed only in accordance with permits issued under Rules 68A-9.002, 68A-9.006, F.A.C., or Section 379.3761, F.S.

A white-tailed deer taken from the wild is barred as a pet by name. One bred in captivity is not on Class I or II, so it falls to Class III and the free personal use permit, with cervid caging standards at 68A-6.01210. Florida's chronic wasting disease rules on importing live cervids are a separate chapter and were not read here.

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.

No person may import into Idaho, export from Idaho, transport, possess or otherwise hold in captivity, propagate, sell or release into the wild any live wildlife, except those animals exempted by Idaho Code or these rules, without a corresponding import, export, transport, captive possession (individual animal license or multiple animal license at a private, commercial or rehabilitation facility), sale or release license/permit from the Department.

The white-tailed deer is Idaho big game under 13.01.06.100.11. § 25-3701 limits domestic cervidae, which the wildlife definition leaves out, to fallow deer, elk and reindeer, so a white-tailed deer stays wildlife and needs a Fish and Game captive possession license, with the marking all captive big game needs. Because of CWD, § 200.03 says the Department will not permit the import of any live cervid not regulated as a domestic cervid, so an animal from out of state is closed off and § 200.03 lets the Department refuse any license.

How this rule works: Section 010.06 defines conventional pets, which sit outside the wildlife permit regime. Unusually explicit: it names ferrets, hedgehogs and sugar gliders in the rule text.

Before any person shall hold, possess or engage in the raising of game mammals, game birds or migratory game birds protected by this Act, he shall procure a permit from the Department to do so.

The white-tailed deer is one of Illinois's game mammals in § 2.2, and § 3.23 requires a game breeder permit to hold one: Class A noncommercial at $10 for an animal held but not sold, Class B commercial at $20 for one raised for sale. Any chronic wasting disease or captive cervid rules the Department applies on top were not read here.

How this rule works: Carries the Class A noncommercial and Class B commercial game breeder permits, the ferret breeding and sale clause, the San Juan (European) rabbit and raccoon dog prohibition, and the nutria and monk parakeet release ban.

1. A landowner shall not keep whitetail unless the whitetail are kept as farm deer under this chapter or kept as preserve whitetail on a hunting preserve pursuant to chapter 484C.

A wild whitetail is game, "The Cervidae: such as elk or deer, other than farm deer", so the rule that governs a captive one is the farm deer chapter, not a pet rule. Farm deer are livestock under the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and § 170.4 lets a landowner keep whitetail only on land enclosed by a fence of at least eight feet that the department has certified, inside its chronic wasting disease program. The other route is a licensed chapter 484C hunting preserve.

How this rule works: § 170.1(3) counts whitetail among farm deer, which § 170.3 makes livestock under the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. § 170.1A bars a landowner from keeping whitetail except as farm deer under the chapter or as preserve whitetail on a chapter 484C hunting preserve, and § 170.4 requires a certified fence at least eight feet high.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess domesticated deer unless such person has obtained from the animal health commissioner a domesticated deer permit.

Kansas answers the pet deer by name. A domesticated deer is any legally obtained cervid "being sold or raised in a confined area for" breeding stock, parts, exhibition "or companionship", and keeping one needs an annual domesticated deer permit from the animal health commissioner, at a fee of up to $400, under the Department of Agriculture's livestock law rather than the wildlife code. A wild white-tailed deer is big game under K.S.A. 32-701(a) and cannot be taken for a pet.

How this rule works: Makes it unlawful to possess domesticated deer without a domesticated deer permit from the animal health commissioner, and defines domesticated deer as any legally obtained cervid sold or raised in a confined area for breeding stock, parts, exhibition or companionship.

(5) A new noncommercial captive cervid permit shall not be issued to a facility after February 28, 2016.

A captive deer is governed by the captive cervid regulation, not the pet rules: a captive cervid is one "privately owned, born, and raised in captivity", and holding one needs a captive cervid permit for an inspected facility behind an 8-foot fence. The noncommercial class, the one meant for animals not sold or traded, closed to new facilities after 28 February 2016, so only the commercial captive cervid permit remains.

Existing owners: A holder of a noncommercial captive cervid permit issued before 1 March 2016 may keep the animals for their lives, after which the permit lapses.

How this rule works: A captive cervid is one privately owned, born and raised in captivity, and holding one needs a captive cervid permit for an inspected facility behind an 8-foot fence. § 8(5) says no new noncommercial captive cervid permit will issue after 28 February 2016, and § 8(9) lets the earlier noncommercial holders keep their animals for life.

Any person desiring to possess, import, export, breed, raise, protect, rehabilitate, hunt, kill, trap, capture, purchase, or sell any wildlife native to Maryland, shall first obtain a permit or license from the Department.

The white-tailed deer is native to Maryland. The COMAR subtitle 08.03 wildlife possession chapter has a cervid part, which governs captive deer and was not read here; that is a farm and disease scheme rather than a pet class. § 10-902(a) attaches a permit requirement to possessing any native wildlife, with no exception for captive-bred animals or animals bought out of state. The Secretary sets the permit classes by regulation, and no personal pet permit class for a native mammal was located in COMAR subtitle 08.03, the reading the flying squirrel cell sets out, so the permit exists in statute and the class a keeper would apply under is not evident.

How this rule works: The captive wildlife permit requirement, and the reason a native Maryland mammal is not a free pet here: anyone wishing to possess any wildlife native to Maryland must first obtain a permit or license from the Department. Subsection (b)(2) lets the Secretary exempt species by regulation, which is what COMAR 08.03.11 does for reptiles and amphibians. Section 10-903 gives a separate power to restrict NON-native wildlife by regulation, which Maryland has used for aquatic organisms and not for pet mammals, birds or reptiles. Section 10-101(dd) defines wildlife broadly enough to reach an invertebrate, but the permit only ever attaches to natives.

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 deer, 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 white-tailed deer is also a native game animal, and MassWildlife says the only animals that may be taken from the wild are certain reptiles and amphibians. Massachusetts' rules on captive cervids and chronic wasting disease were not read here. 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.

A person shall not possess cervidae or engage in a cervidae livestock operation unless he or she obtains from the department a cervidae livestock facility registration or unless otherwise exempt by rule or law.

Michigan routes every captive deer through the Privately Owned Cervidae Producers Marketing Act, whose registration the DNR issues for a cervidae livestock facility, and the act's definitions take in deer of every kind. That is a farm registration with record-keeping and facility standards, not a pet license, and it is the only route. A deer is not on the Permit to Hold Game in Captivity list.

How this rule works: § 287.955(1): "A person shall not possess cervidae or engage in a cervidae livestock operation unless he or she obtains from the department a cervidae livestock facility registration or unless otherwise exempt by rule or law." § 287.952(f) defines cervidae species to include deer, elk, moose, reindeer and caribou, and (g) makes the department the DNR. Accredited zoos are exempt.

Class III wildlife may be propagated, bought, sold, reared, or held in captivity by the holder of the appropriate Class III Wildlife Breeder Permit only at the specific location identified on the permit.

Every cervid is Class III wildlife, and the white-tailed deer is on the approved list, so holding one needs a Class III wildlife breeder permit, which requires passing a written examination and comes with movement and disease rules. The Wildlife Hobby Permit excludes hoofed mammals, the deer is a game mammal outside the take-five allowance, and 9.223(2) bars importing a live white-tailed deer.

How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.

the wild animal or wild bird was not acquired unlawfully or merely as a pet

The white-tailed deer is big game and a game animal under G.S. 113-129(1b) and (7c), and the farmed cervid definition at (5c) leaves it out by name, so a captive deer is a wild animal rather than a farmed one. Holding one alive needs a Wildlife Resources Commission captivity license, and § 113-272.5(a) tells the Executive Director not to issue it unless the animal "was not acquired unlawfully or merely as a pet", the reasoning the black bear and raccoon cells rest on.

How this rule works: North Carolina's captivity-license statute, which bars issuing a license for a wild animal acquired merely as a pet.

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.

"Captive white-tailed deer propagation license" permitting the licensee to propagate captive white-tailed deer, hold the animals in captivity, and sell the animals and carcasses.

Ohio carves captive white-tailed deer out of the ordinary noncommercial license and gives them their own, which needs an enclosure surrounded by an eight-foot fence built before applying, and a Department of Agriculture license under R.C. 943.03 or 943.031, the chronic wasting disease side of the scheme, before deer are placed. R.C. 1531.01(GGG) defines a captive white-tailed deer as one held at a facility licensed under both. That is a deer farm, not a pet license, but it is the only lawful way to hold one.

How this rule works: Ohio defines wild animals as "mollusks, crustaceans, aquatic insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, wild birds, wild quadrupeds, and all other wild mammals". The word aquatic in front of insects is the whole answer for a terrestrial invertebrate: a land insect or an arachnid is not a wild animal in Ohio and the Division of Wildlife has nothing to say about it.

A. No person shall breed, possess, or raise cervidae for commercial or noncommercial purposes without first obtaining a farmed cervidae facility license from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry.

A captive deer in Oklahoma is farmed cervidae under the Department of Agriculture, and the license covers noncommercial keeping too. It may be issued to anyone who obtains the animal lawfully and acts in good faith, and 29 O.S. § 7-502(B)(5) takes licensed farmed cervidae out of the wildlife possession bar.

How this rule works: No person may breed, possess or raise cervidae for commercial or noncommercial purposes without a farmed cervidae facility license from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, which may be issued to anyone who obtains the animals lawfully and acts in good faith. 29 O.S. § 7-502(B)(5) carries licensed farmed cervidae out of the wildlife possession bar.

(a) To hold Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni), Roosevelt elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti), Sika deer (Cervus nippon), Muntjac deer (Muntiacus sp.), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) or black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus), a Type 1 license is required.

Oregon runs captive deer through ODFW's cervid chapter rather than its pet rules: no cervid may be held except under a department cervid license, and the white-tailed deer takes a Type 1 license. 0025(1) makes it unlawful to import any live cervid, so the animal must already be in Oregon, and a deer born in the wild is a wild cervid that may not be held. Licensed holders must have every captive cervid that dies at six months or older tested for chronic wasting disease under 0065. The chapter does not say whether new Type 1 licenses are issued to private keepers.

How this rule works: ODFW's captive cervid chapter. 635-049-0015(1) says cervids may not be held except under a department cervid license; a Type 1 license covers the two elk subspecies, sika, muntjac, white-tailed and black-tailed deer, a Type 2 license fallow deer and reindeer, and no other cervid may be held. 0025(1) makes it unlawful to import live cervids, and 0065 sets the chronic wasting disease testing duty for every captive cervid that dies at six months or older.

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: ... (2) Of the order Artiodactyla, all nondomestic members;

Every nondomestic member of Artiodactyla is on the possession permit list, so a white-tailed deer needs the board's permit, ten dollars an animal. The east-of-the-Missouri restriction in 12:68:18:03.02 names red deer, sika, sambar, Pere David's and axis deer, not the whitetail. The rule writes no pet exclusion.

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.

The department shall issue a permit to a qualified person to possess live breeder deer in captivity.

The white-tailed deer is a game animal, and § 63.002 bars possessing a live one except as the code authorizes. The deer breeder's permit is that authorization, and the holder may keep breeder deer "for the purpose of propagation or sale", in an enclosure capable of keeping other deer out, with records, tagging, genetic and disease testing rules on top. That is a breeding operation, not a pet license, and it is the only route.

How this rule works: The only route to a live white-tailed or mule deer in captivity. § 43.352 has the department issue a permit to a qualified person to possess live breeder deer, and § 43.357(a) lets the holder breed them and hold them "for the purpose of propagation or sale". The disease detection rules in 31 TAC ch. 65 subch. B sit on top.

Species not found on the Restricted, Unrestricted or Domestic species lists are considered Restricted.

The Domestic list names two deer, the European red deer and the fallow deer, and not the white-tailed deer, which is on neither of the other lists either. It is also Vermont's native game deer. Captive cervid and disease rules were not read here. 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.

(b) "Captive cervid" or the plural means a member of the Cervidae family of animals including, but not limited to, fallow deer, red deer, white-tailed deer, axis deer, elk, moose, reindeer and caribou which are domesticated animals under the control of the owner of the animal.

A wild white-tailed deer is a "wild animal" under § 20-1-2, which takes in all cervids, but captive cervids licensed under the Captive Cervid Farming Act are carved out and regulated as livestock by the Department of Agriculture. Both license classes in § 19-2H-4(c) are for breeding and selling, or for breeding, harvest, hunting and venison sales, so the Act offers no license shaped for a single pet. The § 20-2-51 pet permit reaches "a wild animal" acquired from a commercial dealer or in the open season, but a deer bought from a licensed farm is a captive cervid, which § 20-1-2 takes out of "wild animals", so whether that permit reaches it is not settled.

How this rule works: Captive cervids, white-tailed deer named among them, are regulated by the Department of Agriculture as livestock and are outside the wildlife definitions in § 20-1-2. No one may operate a captive cervid farming facility without a license, and the two license classes in § 19-2H-4(c) are for breeding and selling, or for breeding, harvest, hunting and venison sales.

Except as provided in par. (b) and s. 169.04 (5m), no person may keep farm-raised deer unless the person is registered with the department under this section.

A captive deer in Wisconsin is not a captive wildlife question at all: § 169.01(7) makes a farm-raised deer a domestic animal, and § 95.55 requires anyone who keeps one to register with the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, under rules on fencing and chronic wasting disease testing. A deer from the wild is not legally obtained under § 169.04(1)(a), and NR 10.02(3) separately protects albino and white deer. The only exception the statute names is a Walworth County rehabilitator's herd taken before August 2003. So the route is a registered deer farm, not a pet license.

How this rule works: The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection's registration for anyone who keeps farm-raised deer, which § 169.01(7) makes a domestic animal outside the DNR's captive wildlife chapter. § 95.55(1)(a): "no person may keep farm-raised deer unless the person is registered with the department under this section", with fencing and chronic wasting disease testing rules made under it.

(i) A member within the family Cervidae (including, but not limited to the, white-tailed deer, elk, red deer and sika),

The white-tailed deer is named in Category Three, Connecticut's native tier, and (b)(4) bars importing or exporting a Category Three animal except by zoos and similar bodies or persons authorized under §§ 26-40, 26-54, 26-57 or 26-67e of the General Statutes. It does not bar possession. So a deer may be held only if it never crossed the state line. Taking one from the wild is a question for the hunting statutes, which could not be read from this container, and Connecticut's chronic wasting disease rules on captive cervids were not read either.

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.

c. The family Cervidae . Common names include: cervid, deer, elk, moose, red deer, and wapiti.

The deer family is restricted live wildlife. The white-tailed deer is also an Arizona game animal; Arizona's captive cervid disease rules were not read here. 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) It is unlawful to buy or sell, offer for sale, barter, or have in possession for sale the following: any live deer (family cervidae),

No live deer may be bought or sold in South Carolina, and bringing one into the state needs a Department of Natural Resources permit under § 50-16-20(A)(1), which names the family Cervidae. No South Carolina rule read here speaks to keeping a native deer that was neither bought nor imported, so pet keeping is not clearly ruled out but has no ordinary route.

How this rule works: Makes it unlawful to buy, sell, offer for sale, barter or possess for sale any live deer of the family Cervidae, among other deer products.

(b) A person holding a game breeder's license under this section may possess at least one (1) of the following:

No deer is on the game breeder species list in 9-10-4(b) or on any of the three wild animal possession permit classes, and the deer rules in 312 IAC 9-3 cover hunting, processing and disposal but say nothing about keeping a live deer. No Indiana statute on privately owned cervids was read here, so whether and how a white-tailed deer may be kept is not settled by the texts read.

How this rule works: Lists the species a game breeder may hold: pheasant, bobwhite, cottontail, gray and fox squirrels, Indiana's furbearers including the opossum, and the bobcat. A squirrel may be acquired only if born in captivity. No cervid is on the list.