US-Relevant Animal Parts Laws

thegreenwolf:

Hey, taxidermy and dead-critter fans in the US (or who ship to the US)—I put together this collection of links to relevant laws to international, federal, and state laws that affect the possession and/or sales of animal parts in the US. It’s NOT intended as legal advice as I am not a legal professional, but I do offer it as a starting point (when in doubt about the legality of something, check with your state fish and wildlife department). Here it is: http://www.thegreenwolf.com/partslaws.html

Anyway, you can peruse the links at your leisure, but there are a few things that I keep seeing come up that I think you may want to know about (you can find out more about these laws at the link I posted):

—It is illegal to sell or even possess almost all wild bird feathers and other parts, and even nests and eggs—and yes, this does include naturally molted feathers, as you can’t tell the difference between one that was molted, and one that was just ripped off an illegally shot bird. The species protected include all corvids (including crow, raven, jays, etc.), raptors (eagles, hawks, owls), songbirds (robins, cardinals, etc.) and so forth. This is due to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940 (the “eagle feather law”). So that art you made with crow and blue jay feathers, and that hawk feather you have hanging from your rear view mirror? All illegal under federal law and subject to big fines.

—It is illegal to sell across state lines any CITES Appendix I animal parts, to include “pre-ban” (killed before 1973) ones. You can give them as gifts, and you can sell within state if your state allows it. But that vintage leopard coat or ocelot scrap that you’re trying to sell on Etsy? Illegal according to federal law. (See http://www.thegreenwolf.com/prebancites.html for details.)

—It is illegal to send wildlife parts outside of the US without an import/export license, and paying inspection fees—just slapping a customs form on it at the post office isn’t enough. You can find more information on everything needed to legally mail wildlife parts out of the US at http://www.thegreenwolf.com/international.html - while the initial query was about deer parts, it applies to all wildlife. Both US Fish and Wildlife and US Customs have their own regulations, so you may want to inquire with both of them if you’re trying to send animal parts to other countries.

—Many states have restrictions on what animal parts may be possessed or sold. For example, wolf parts cannot be sold in California or New York, and since a seller cannot guarantee that a buyer in those states won’t resell them even though they said they were keeping them, most dealers in dead things won’t ship wolf parts there so as to avoid being held liable and potentially violating the Lacey Act of 1900.

Also, you won’t be exempted if you have the animal parts for religious purposes or if you happen to have Native American blood. Even enrolled tribe members have to wait in a waiting list for years to be approved for a single legal eagle feather, and people of numerous races have been arrested and fined for killing eagles for black market trade. I am unsure of the exceptions that are made to laws for enrolled Native Americans, and would appreciate any links and laws that would help me improve this collection in that regard.

Additionally, a little later this year, once states have had time to update their websites, I’ll be updating this resource; in the meantime, if you see something missing, please feel free to let me know :)

Also, feel free to reblog this if you think some of your readers would find it useful!

Cite Arrow reblogged from thegreenwolf
48 notes | | Jan 13, 2012
  1. templewitch reblogged this from graveyarddirt
  2. shelbylou reblogged this from graveyarddirt
  3. wheretangledweedsgrow reblogged this from graveyarddirt
  4. bitchofburden reblogged this from urbanmongoose
  5. urbanmongoose reblogged this from thegreenwolf and added:
    http://www.taxidermylaw.co.uk/ That site covers most issues relating to the legality of animal parts in the UK.
  6. thegreenwolf reblogged this from haloquin and added:
    haven’t perused it...apparently the Wildlife and Countryside Act is the main thing
  7. haloquin reblogged this from graveyarddirt and added:
    I’m curious about the laws on possession of animal parts in Britain… does anyone know? I hear about everything from bird...
  8. graveyarddirt reblogged this from thegreenwolf
  9. moreanimalia reblogged this from thegreenwolf and added:
    Good point, that hadn’t occurred to me as I never mail stuff to people, especially not to the US as it can be quite...
  10. thegreenwolf reblogged this from moreanimalia and added:
    On the other hand, anyone wanting to mail things to the US should be aware of these, especially import/export laws here....
  11. moreanimalia reblogged this from crotalinae and added:
    Thankfully these don’t apply to me as I’m not in the US and as far as I know the UK aren’t quite as strict with their...
  12. merliss reblogged this from thegreenwolf
  13. darziel reblogged this from thegreenwolf
  14. thegreenwolf reblogged this from crotalinae and added:
    Thank you for reblogging; I’m glad you’ve found it to be that useful a resource :)
  15. crotalinae reblogged this from thegreenwolf and added:
    far too often overlooked...blatantly ignored.
  16. bonesniffer reblogged this from thegreenwolf
  17. thegreenwolf posted this