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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 20
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 3592
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT PROHIBITING THE IMPORT, SALE AND POSSESSION OF
AFRICAN ELEPHANTS, L IONS, LEOPARDS, BLACK RHINOCEROS,
WHITE RHINOCEROS AND GIRAFFES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) (a) For purposes of this 1
section, "big six African species" means any specimen of any of the 2
following members of the animal kingdom: African elephant 3
(loxodonta africana), African lion (panthera leo), African leopard 4
(panthera pardus pardus), black rhinoceros (diceros bicornis), white 5
rhinoceros (ceratotherium simum cottoni) and African giraffe (giraffa 6
camelopardalis), including any part, product or offspring thereof, or 7
the dead body or parts thereof, except fossils, whether or not it is 8
included in a manufactured product or in a food product. 9
(b) No person shall import, possess, sell, offer for sale or transport in 10
this state any big six African species. 11
(c) Any law enforcement officer shall have authority to enforce the 12
provisions of this section and, whenever necessary, to execute any 13
warrant to search for and seize any big six African species imported, 14
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possessed, sold, offered for sale or transported in violation of this 15
section. 16
(d) Unless such activity is otherwise prohibited by federal law, the 17
provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall not apply if any of the 18
following conditions exist: (1) Such specimen of a big six African 19
species was located or possessed within the state prior to the effective 20
date of this section and the legal owner of such specimen obtained a 21
certificate of possession from the Commissioner of Energy and 22
Environmental Protection; (2) such specimen of a big six African 23
species is to be part of a temporary or permanent collection of a 24
museum that has a tax exemption from the federal Internal Revenue 25
Service as an educational or scientific institution, provided such 26
specimen is not subsequently sold, offered for sale, traded, bartered or 27
distributed to any other party; or (3) such specimen of a big six African 28
species is distributed directly to a legal beneficiary of a trust or to a 29
legal heir provided: (A) Such specimen was located or possessed by 30
the decedent prior to the effective date of this section, (B) such 31
beneficiary or heir does not subsequently sell, offer for sale, trade, 32
barter or distribute such specimen to any other person, and (C) such 33
beneficiary or heir obtains a certificate of possession from the 34
Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection not later than 35
one hundred eighty days after receipt of such specimen. 36
(e) Any specimen of a big six African species and any other property 37
or item used in connection with a violation of the provisions of this 38
section shall be seized and held pending any criminal proceeding 39
pursuant to this section. 40
(f) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be 41
guilty of a felony and fined not more than ten thousand dollars and 42
imprisoned not more than two years, or both. 43
(g) Upon conviction of a person for violation of the provisions of 44
this section or upon the entry of a judgment restraining a defendant 45
from importing, possessing, selling, offering for sale or transporting 46
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any specimen of a big six African species on the grounds that such 47
activity is or would be a violation of the provisions of this section, any 48
specimen of a big six African species and any other property or item 49
that is seized and held pursuant to this section shall be forfeited and, 50
upon such forfeiture, destroyed, provided nothing in this subsection 51
shall be construed to require or authorize the destruction of a living 52
specimen of a big six African species. 53
(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to the 54
importing, possessing, selling, offering for sale or transporting of ivory 55
in this state. 56
(i) Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to the 57
importing, transporting or possessing of a live big six African species 58
by any zoological institution or circus. 59
Sec. 2. Subsection (d) of section 26-311 of the general statutes is 60
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 61
October 1, 2019): 62
(d) Nothing in section 1 of this act or sections 26-303 to 26-312, 63
inclusive, or any regulations adopted pursuant to said sections shall 64
prohibit transportation through this state of any endangered or 65
threatened species in accordance with the terms of any permit issued 66
under the laws of another state provided the person in possession of 67
an endangered or threatened species can prove legal possession of the 68
species. 69
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 26-311(d)
Statement of Purpose:
To prohibit the importation and trade of big six African species.
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[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: SEN. DUFF, 25th Dist.; REP. KUPCHICK, 132nd Dist.
S.B. 20