220-2-.26 Restrictions On Possession, Sale, Importation And/Or Release Of Certain Animals And Fish.

(1) No person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association shall possess, sell, offer for sale, import, bring or cause to be brought or imported into the State of Alabama any of the following live fish or animals:

Any Walking Catfish or any other fish of the genus Clarias;

Any Piranha or any fish of the genus Serrasalmus;

Any Black Carp of the genus Mylopharyngodon;

Any species of Mongoose;

San Juan Rabbits, Jack Rabbits or any other species of wild rabbit or hare; or

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), species of coyote, species of fox, species of raccoon, species of skunk, wild rodent, or strain of wild turkey, black bear (Ursus americanus), mountain lion (Felis concolor), bobcat (Felis rufus), Pronghorn Antelope (Antelocapridae), any nondomestic member of the families Suidae (pigs), Tayassuidae (peccaries), or Bovidae (bison, mountain goat, mountain sheep).

No person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association, shall transport within the state, any member of the above-stated species (whether such member originated within or without the state), except for properly licensed game-breeders pursuant to Section 9-11-31, Code of Ala. 1975.

(2) It shall be unlawful to release any tame turkey, or any other turkey, whether wild or tame, into any of the wild areas of this State.

The provisions of this regulation shall not apply to any turkeys kept by any farmer or landowner of this State for normal agricultural purposes or for personal consumption.

(3) Nutria shall not be propagated or released in this State. No person, firm or corporation shall release any Nutria from captivity in this State or propagate any Nutria for the purpose of stocking in the wild of this State.

(4) All species of sturgeon are hereby declared to be protected fish within this State and any person who shall catch a sturgeon shall immediately return it to the waters from whence it came with the least possible harm.

(5) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to possess a species of sturgeon not native to Alabama waters, to introduce such a species of sturgeon to public waters of Alabama, or to offer for sale or import any such non-native sturgeon in Alabama, except by permit from the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

(6) It shall be unlawful to possess, sell, offer for sale, import, or release any of the following fish: Chinese perch (Siniperca spp.), all snakeheads (Channa spp.), all mud carp (Cirrhinus spp.), or blue back herring (Alosa aestivalis).

(7) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess, sell, offer for sale, import, or release any non-indigenous venomous reptile in or into the State of Alabama, except by written permission of a designated employee of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources authorized by the Director of the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries to issue such permits.

(8) Except as authorized by permit issued by the Department prior to the date of this amendment, it shall be unlawful for any person to have in possession any live, protected wild bird or wild animal or live embryo, eggs, or sperm of these protected wild birds or animals. "Possession" in this section does not include deer restricted by natural or man made barriers as long as the deer remain wild and are not subject to management practices of domesticated animals.

(9) The provisions of this regulation shall not apply to the exceptions provided for in Section 9-2-13(, Code of Ala. 1975. Accredited educational facilities, research facilities, and permitted rehabilitation facilities shall be exempt from this regulation through the written permission of the Director of the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries or his designee.