(a) The commission, in cooperation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, shall adopt regulations governing both (1) the entry, importation, possession, transportation, keeping, confinement, or release of any and all wild animals that will be or that have been imported into this state pursuant to this chapter, and (2) the possession of all other wild animals. The regulations shall be designed to prevent damage to the native wildlife or agricultural interests of this state resulting from the existence at large of these wild animals, and to provide for the welfare of wild animals and the safety of the public.

(b) The regulations shall also include criteria for all of the following:

Terms Used In California Fish and Game Code 2120

  • Commission: means the Fish and Game Commission, and "commissioner" means a member of the Fish and Game Commission. See California Fish and Game Code 30
  • Department: means the Department of Fish and Wildlife. See California Fish and Game Code 37
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Fish and Game Code 83
  • wild animal: means any animal of the class Aves (birds), class Mammalia (mammals), class Amphibia (frogs, toads, salamanders), class Osteichtyes (bony fishes), class Monorhina (lampreys), class Reptilia (reptiles), class Crustacea (crayfish), or class Gastropoda (slugs, snails) which is not normally domesticated in this state as determined by the commission. See California Fish and Game Code 2116
  • Wildlife: means and includes all wild animals, birds, plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and related ecological communities, including the habitat upon which the wildlife depends for its continued viability. See California Fish and Game Code 89.5

(1) The receiving, processing, and issuing of a permit and conducting inspections.

(2) Contracting out inspection activities.

(3) Responding to public reports and complaints.

(4) The notification of the revocation, termination, or denial of permits, and related appeals.

(5) The method by which the department determines that the breeding of wild animals pursuant to a single event breeding permit for exhibitor or a breeding permit is necessary and will not result in unneeded or uncared for animals, and the means by which the criteria will be implemented and enforced.

(6) How a responding agency will respond to an escape of a wild animal. This shall include, but not be limited to, the establishment of guidelines for the safe recapture of the wild animal and procedures outlining when lethal force would be used to recapture the wild animal.

(c) These regulations shall be developed and adopted by the commission on or before January 1, 2007.

(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 285, Sec. 30. Effective January 1, 2008.)