Minnesota Statutes     Minnesota Administrative Rules 

MINNESOTA laws

REGULATED ANIMALS

BANS regulated animals.

• GRANDFATHERED: animals registered with local animal control and one future replacement
  
• EXEMPT:
  
  • USDA facilities
    
    • Acquisitions limited to those needed to maintain numbers from 2005 (excludes offspring under 6 months)
      
  • AZA facilities
    
  • certain wildlife sanctuaries
    
  • licensed game farms with furbearing animals or bears
    
  • DNR licensees
    
  • research or medical institution
    
  • USDA exhibitor for a circus, carnival, rodeo, or fair
    

Regulated Animals:

• Felines (all except domestic cats and breeds recognized by national or international multi-cat registries)
  
• Bears
  
• Nonhuman Primates
  
• Hybrids of Above
  

(Minnesota Statutes 346.155)

LIVE CERVIDAE

BANS possessing live Cervidae considered wildlife. 

• Farm-raised Cervidae (raised for any purpose and registered with BOAH) are considered livestock and are exempt.
  
  • NEED: inspections and herd inventories annually, confined and have 96” high fence, fence out wild cervids during construction and destroy ones found on property later, ear tag visible 50’
    

(Minnesota Statutes 97A.505 Subd. 9; Minnesota Admin. Rules 1721.0380)

LIVE RATITAE AND LLAMAS

Ratitae and llamas raised for fiber, meat, byproducts or breeding stock are considered livestock and not wild animals, and raising them is considered an agricultural pursuit.  Must comply with 17A, 28A, 31, 31A, and 31B.

(Minnesota Statutes 17.453 – 17.456)

PET AND COMPANION ANIMALS (GENERALLY)

Pet birds, rodents and other pet and companion animals have basic care rules.

(Minnesota Statutes 346.40 – 346.42)

 

NATIVE CAPTIVE WILDLIFE

Protected wild animals - big game, small game, game fish, rough fish, minnows, leeches, alewives, ciscoes, chubs, lake whitefish and the subfamily Coregoninae, rainbow smelt, frogs, turtles, clams, mussels, wolf, mourning doves, bats, snakes, salamanders, lizards, endangered, threatened, or special concern and wild animals restricted in time or manner of taking, other than a restriction in the use of artificial lights, poison, or motor vehicles

• Big Game - white-tailed and mule deer, moose, elk, black bear, antelope, caribou
  

• Small Game - game birds, gray squirrel, fox squirrel, cottontail rabbit, snowshoe hare, jack rabbit, raccoon, lynx, bobcat, short-tailed weasel, long-tailed weasel, wolf, red fox and gray fox, fisher, pine marten, opossum, badger, cougar, wolverine, muskrat, mink, otter, and beaver
  
  • Game Birds – migratory waterfowl (brant, ducks, geese, and tundra, trumpeter and whooper swans), ring-necked pheasant, ruffed grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, Canada spruce grouse, prairie chicken, gray partridge, bobwhite quail, wild turkey, coot, gallinule, sora and Virginia rails, mourning dove, sandhill crane, American woodcock, common snipe
    

• Game Fish – lake and shovelnose sturgeon; American eel; black and white crappie; largemouth, rock, smallmouth, white and yellow bass; sunfish (bluegill, pumpkinseed, green sunfish, orange spotted sunfish, longear sunfish, warmouth and hybrids); muskellunge; northern pike; burbot; blue, channel and flathead catfish; sauger; walleye; yellow perch; paddlefish; Atlantic, chinook, coho, kokanee and pink salmon; brook, brown, lake, and rainbow trout; cisco; lake whitefish
  

• Rough fish – carp, buffalo, sucker, sheepshead, bowfin, gar, goldeye, and bullhead except endangered/ threatened/special concern
  

Fur-bearing Animals – protected wild animals except big game

Predator – wolf, coyote, fox, lynx, bobcat

Protected birds – all birds except unprotected birds

Wild animals – wild by nature

(Minnesota Statutes 97A.015)

PROTECTED WILD ANIMALS

BANS take, buy, sell, transport, or possess protected wild animals unless allowed by law.

PERMIT issued for:

• Possession Permit (propagation, research, scientific programs or educational programs)
  
  • Statutes ALLOW department to issue for pets – rules do NOT
    
  • ALLOWS: media outlets conducting educational programs or promoting outdoor recreation and biology or natural history programs
    

• Endangered Species Permit (See Endangered Species)
  

• Exhibition Permit (public exhibition of wild mammals, bird, reptiles and amphibians)
  
  • EXEMPT: public zoos or wildlife exhibits, private owned traveling zoos or circuses, and pet shops
    

• Falconry Permit (resident or nonresident)
  
• Nonresident Raptor Capture Permit (take and possess wild raptors)
  
• Raptor Propagation Permit (breed and sell captive bred raptors)
  
• Raptor Abatement Permit (use raptors to remove animals from undesirable locations)
  
• Eagle Permit (possess eagles)
  

• Game and Fur Farm (breeding furbearing animals, game birds, bears, or mute swans)
  
  • Fox and mink must be captive bred 2 generations
    
  • Transporting live beaver requires separate permit
    
  • Must be captive-bred and come from game farm or be exempt
    
  • Need sales receipt for sales with original mailed to department in 48 hours
    
  • BANS endangered/threatened unless on permit
    

• Wildlife Rehabilitation Permit (divided into novice, general and master)
  
  • must NOT have game farm license
    

• Zoological Specimen Collecting (zoological collections by municipalities, incorporated natural history societies, high schools, colleges, and universities for scientific or exhibition purposes)
  

(Minnesota Statutes 97A.041, 97A.105, 97A.401, 97A.405, 97B.105; Minnesota Admin Rules 6212.1400, 6238, 6242, 6244)

 

UNPROTECTED BIRDS AND MAMMALS

• Unprotected birds – English sparrow, starling, cormorant, common pigeon, Eurasian collared dove, chukar partridge, quail except bobwhite, mute swan
  

• Unprotected wild animals – wild animals not protected including coyote, plains pocket gopher, porcupine, striped skunk, and unprotected birds except endangered/threatened/special concern
  

BANS import and export of live coyotes.

• EXEMPT: authorized under permit
  

Other unprotected birds and mammals may be taken at any time and in any manner with a few exceptions and may be possessed, bought, sold or transported in any quantity.

(Minnesota Statutes 97B.651)

 

PROTECTED BIRDS

Protected birds may only be taken if allowed by law (not for pets).

• EXCEPTION: recapturing escaped bobwhite quail AND great horned owls under federal permit
  

(Minnesota Statutes 97B.701)

FROGS AND TURTLES

PERMIT (Frog Dealers License) required to purchase, possess, transport, and sell native frogs for purposes other than bait. 

• SPECIES: Northern cricket, Cope’s gray treefrog, gray treefrog, spring peeper, chorus, bullfrog, green, pickerel, Northern, Plains and Southern leopard, mink, wood, river, and pig frogs along with American, Great Plains and Canadian toads
  
• Bullfrogs and Northern leopard frogs must be over 6” to take and possess except for bait
  
• Frogs legally taken may be possessed and transported and sold in unlimited quantity during open season
  
• BANS import other than bait unless authorized by permit
  
• Need inventory
  

BANS possessing spiny softshell turtles after 12/1/21.

• EXEMPT: private fish hatchery or aquatic farm with turtle endorsement
  

PERMIT (Angling License) required to take common snapping turtles and Western painted turtles.

• Recreational Turtle Permit required to take turtles for personal use with commercial equipment
  
• LIMITED TO: Western painted, common snapping and spiny softshell turtles
  
• EXEMPT:
  
  • buying turtles or buying turtles for resale at a retail outlet
    
  • nonresidents buying from seller for export out of state with proper documents
    
  • taking, possessing, renting or selling 25 turtles over 4” long for nonprofit turtle race
    

• POSSESSION/SIZE LIMITS:
  
  • Possess 3 snapping turtles – 12”+ long
    
  • Possess 3 Western painted turtles – 4 to 5 ½”
    
    • EXCLUDES: turtle races above
      

SEASON:

• Snapping – year-round except May or Jun
  
• Spiny softshell – year-round except Jun 1 – Jul 15
  

BANS possessing all other native turtles not listed above.

• EXEMPT: private fish hatchery or aquatic farm with turtle endorsement
  

BANS new sellers of turtles.

• PERMITS: for grandfathered in 2002:  
  
  • Turtle Seller’s Permit (grandfathered sellers and take more than 3 common snapping or Western painted turtles)
    
    • may transfer once to a child
      
    • Snapping turtles must be 10” wide
      
    • EXEMPT:
      
      • buying turtles or buying turtles for resale at a retail outlet
        
      • nonresidents buying from seller for export out of state with proper documents
        
      • taking, possessing, renting or selling 25 turtles over 4” long for nonprofit turtle race
        
  • Turtle Seller’s Apprentice Permit (1 apprentice)
    
  • Turtle Endorsement (propagate and sell turtles with Aquatic Farm License or Private Fish Hatchery License)
    

(Minnesota Statutes 97C.601, 97C.605, 97C.611; Minnesota Admin Code 6256)

SNAKES, LIZARDS, SALAMANDERS

BANS wild-caught native snakes, lizards and salamanders as pets.

• EXEMPT: Those owned on 8/1/21
  

PERMIT may be issued to breed and sell captive-born ones as pets.

(Minnesota Statutes 97A.401)

MUSSELS

BANS harvesting live mussels.

(Minnesota Statutes 97C.701)

CRAYFISH (PERSONAL USE)

PERMIT (Angling License) required to take crayfish for personal use where fishing allowed.

• LIMIT: 25 pounds of freshwater
  
• BANS sale and importing and placing in water unless authorized
  

(Minnesota Statutes 97C.871; Minnesota Admin. Rules 6259)

CRAYFISH (COMMERCIAL USE)

PERMIT (Commercial use permit) required to take more than 25 pounds of crayfish. 

PERMIT required to import crayfish, and aquarium species for sale must not be able to survive in the state.  Special permits issued for virile and papershell crayfish. 

(Minnesota Admin. Rules 6259.1000)

FISH

BANS buying and selling wild-caught fish.

• EXEMPT:
  
  • Minnows
    
  • rough fish
    
  • smelt from Lake Superior
    
  • commercial fishing operation
    
  • private aquatic life
    
  • fish from another state
    
  • Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, rock bass, muskellunge and sunfish by private hatchery or aquatic farm
    

BANS transport of fish in water.

• EXEMPT:
  
  • aquaculture license
    
  • fishing contest weigh-in
    
  • minnow following minnow transport and import laws
    
  • commercial fishing license
    
  • if otherwise authorized
    
  • those 16 or under taking fish by angling for home aquarium
    
    • LIMIT: 4 per species transported each time and not more than 10”
      
    • ALLOWS: largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, rock bass, black crappie, white crappie, bluegill pumpkinseed, green sunfish, orange spotted sunfish, and black, yellow, and brown bullheads
      

(Minnesota Statutes 97C.205, 97C.391)

FERRETS

BANS taking protected wild animals with ferrets.

(Minnesota Statutes 97B.101)

AQUACULTURE

Issues the following permits relating to aquaculture:

• Aquatic Farm License (hatch, raise, rear, and culture private aquatic life for sale)
  
• Minnow Dealer’s Vehicle License
  
• Minnow Dealer License
  
• Minnow Retailer License (sell minnows as bait)
  
• Minnow Retailer’s Vehicle License (transport more than 12 dozen to facility)
  
  • EXEMPT: common carrier, transport direct to resort, leeches if under 18
    
• Exporting Minnow Dealer License (export minnows)
  
• Exporting Minnow Dealer’s Vehicle License (export for each vehicle used)
  
• Private Fish Hatchery (raising fish for sale, stocking waters, angling, or processing)
  
  • sales less than $200
    
  • sales $200+
    
• Aquatic Farm Vehicle Endorsement
  
• Sucker Egg Taking License
  
• Game Fish Packers License (dressed dead fish)
  
• Fish Vendor License (use motor vehicle to sell fish)
  
• Commercial Aquarium Facility License (selling aquatic life present in state or capable of surviving in state for aquariums or display)
  

Game fish must be purchased from state or acquired from aquatic farms.

(Minnesota Statues 17.46 to 17.499, 97C.211, 97C.501)

 

ENDANGERED/THREATENED SPECIES

BANS take, import, transport, purchase and sale of threatened and endangered species.

• GRANDFATHERED: PERMIT for animals owned before 1985 or before a new animal is listed
  
• PERMIT (Endangered and Threatened Species Permits) issued for:
  
  • zoological, educational, or scientific study;
    
  • propagation or survival of species
    
  • preventing injury to persons or property
    
  • when the social and economic benefits outweigh the harm
    

Sales require prior written approval. 

LIST: Official List

(Minnesota Statutes 84.0895, 97A.501; Minnesota Admin. Rules 6212.1800 - 6212.2300)

 

RESTRICTED SPECIES

BANS import, possession, propagation, transport and release of restricted species.  

• PERMIT (Restricted Species Permit) for scientific, research, educational, or commercial purposes
  
  • Must be permanently marked, bond or security, and contained and notify Board of escapes within 24 hours
    
  • Commercial purposes require having any Eurasian wild hogs on 3/1/93 and certified numbers within 3 months and not increasing breeding stock more than 25%
    
• EXEMPT: possession for 2 days for slaughter
  

LIST: Eurasian wild hogs and hybrids excluding domestic breeds

(Minnesota Statutes 17.457)

 

FERAL SWINE

BANS possessing and releasing feral swine.

(Minnesota Statutes 97A.56)

INVASIVE SPECIES

 
All nonnative species other than livestock and plant pests are classified into 4 categories:

• Prohibited Invasive Species (BANNED)
  
  • EXEMPT:
    
    • Prohibited Invasive Species Permit for disposal, decontamination, control, research or education
      
    • Restricted Species Permit for Eurasian wild hogs
      
    • transport to department for identification or reporting
      
    • transport for harvest or control activity
      
    • when immediately returned after accidental catch
      
    • transport to disposal site
      
• Regulated Invasive Species (PERMIT required for introduction into public waters)
  
• Unregulated Nonnative Species (LEGAL with NO PERMIT REQUIRED)
  
• Unlisted Nonnative Species (may not be imported until the commissioner classifies them)
  

LIST: See Detailed List

Aquatic macrophytes (plants living in water) may be purchased or traded from commercial or hobbyist sources for aquariums, wetland or lakeshore restoration or ornamental purposes.  They may also be harvested if in vehicle.

(Minnesota Statutes Ch. 84D Invasive Species; Minnesota Admin. Rules 6216)

IMPORT AND TRANSPORT (FISH AND GAME)

Allows import of wild animals legally acquired unless specifically prohibited.

Transport allowed during open season and requires person to be in same vehicle as animal.  Containers must be marked.

(Minnesota Statutes 97A.505; Minnesota Statutes 97A.521)

IMPORT (BOARD OF ANIMAL HEALTH)

BANS import of feral swine. 

Import of all other birds and mammals requires a certificate of veterinary inspection.  

Farmed Cervidae (Cervidae kept for any purpose registered with board) require import permit and CWD certification, and intrastate transport requires 14 days’ notice.  

(Minnesota Admin. Rules 1721)