Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I think I have actually reached the end of the internet in my search to obtain a permit to legally posess a crocodile in Illinois. Today after about 30 calls and messages I finally reached a person at the Illinois Dept of conservation, they put me through to someone who is supposed to be in charge of new permits.

Now after all this, he says Illinois no longer issues any new permits to allow a person to own a crocodile / alligator.

I hate doing thing illegally, but I really want one, and am curious if anyone else has had this problem or where I can go from here?

Thanks

Simply wanting one is unlikely to get the Illinois DNR to issue you a permit. Like most states, unless you can demonstrate that you are using the animal for a genuine purpose, such as educational lectures/exhibition, or research, they are not going to simply al
low you to keep one just as a pet. Here in NY we have to provide a record of all programs, lectures, exhibitions done each year using the animal, which is maintained under an endangered species permit.

That is getting to be the case in every state. With the increasing number of released pets (e.g., alligators in PA) the states are getting tighter on requirements for keeping crocodilians. In some cases its not necessary, but in most cases, it is warranted.

MH

Thanks for the info, maybe I did not explain it well enough to them. I am opening a retail location here in Illinois, and wanted to in the next year start doing an educational program for kids.

If this is the case I am sure I did not state my intention enough when I spoke with the person. I just figured it would take at least a year to two for him to grow to a reasonable size. So I have not done any type of classes as of yet.

I figured I would be able to keep the alligator in the store during this time, that was my main reason for the permit as of today. The long term would be to do classes, of some sort out of the store.

Illinois does not require a permit for any crocodilian that is not endangered or threatened. I would sure like the name of the person at DNR that you talked to. The requirements are under 5 feet long. If you have a pet shop you are not allowed any crocodilians in the store. (pet shop regulation.) The pet shop regs also say no snakes over 6 feet. So if you have a small alligator you would have to keep it home or maintain a federal exibitors license.
Bigpain.

After thinking about this overnite, I think you may have talked to Joe Kath at the endangered species permit office.
The Il DNR believe it or not were issueing permits to alligator owners saying, alligators are a threatened species.
I believe they have stopped this practice. Especially since they serve alligator meat at quite a few food booths at the state fair and Taste of Chicago.
Joe probably told you they no longer issue permits, without saying you don't need one.
Bigpain

I pretty sure that is who I spoke with, but everything I read from documentation says no crocodile species are allowed in Illinois without a permit.

I had read about the exhibitors license, would I still contact the same department or is that a different department that I contact to try and obtain one of those?

Thanks for all the info it is greatly appreciated.

In Illinois, any species listed federally (even due to only their "similarity of appearance"-- S/A) requires an IDNR endangered/threatened species permit to legally possess them in Illinois. It is my understanding that IDNR is no longer issuing permits for those federally listed crocodilian species to individuals anymore for pets. The number of either escapes or intentional releases by irresponsible keepers because they cannot maintain these animals when they become too large to handle, has risen over the past couple years.

The federal exhibitor's license does not apply to reptiles because USDA has stated that reptiles (and other cold-blooded animals) are not regulated under the Animal Welfare Act. Therefore having a federal exhibitor's license does not "allow" you to have a crocodilian species regulated by IDNR permit. USDA does not even issue those licenses in regards to reptiles. Here is a link to that:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_welfare/content/printable_version/fs_awexhibitr.pdf

Therefore if it is your wish to legally keep a crocodilian as a pet in Illinois, I would recommend looking into keeping something that does not appear on the federal list, such as maybe a dwarf caiman.

However, also understand that while this outlines state law, any smaller local unit of government (such as a county or municipality) CAN be more restrictive than the state. So you may also want to check into any local county or city/village laws where you live to see if they have any regulations regarding the keep of crocodilians as pets. Your local and county animal control officer could answer that question for you.

Scott

NY follows the same guidelines, in that if its Federally Listed, regardless of whether or not it is a hybrid or even native to the state, then it is considered an endangered/threatened species by the state and therefore requires an endangered/threatened species permit to possess.

MH