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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5104
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 755
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT PROHIBITING THE IMPORT, SALE AND POSSESSION OF
AFRICAN ELEPHANTS, L IONS, LEOPARDS, BLACK RHIN OCEROS,
WHITE RHINOCEROS AND GIRAFFES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2020) (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 (loxodonta 3
africana), African lion (panthera leo), African leopard (panthera pardus 4
pardus), black rhinoceros (diceros bicornis), white rhinoceros 5
(ceratotherium simum cottoni) and African giraffe ( giraffa 6
camelopardalis), including any part, product or offspring thereof, or the 7
dead body or parts thereof, except fossils, whether or not it is included 8
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 species 19
was located or possessed within the state prior to the effective date of 20
this section and the legal owner of such specimen obtained a certificate 21
of possession from the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental 22
Protection not later than one hundred eighty days after the effective date 23
of this section; (2) such specimen of a big six African species is to be part 24
of a temporary or permanent collection of a museum that has a tax 25
exemption from the federal Internal Revenue Service as an educational 26
or scientific institution, provided such specimen is not subsequently 27
sold, offered for sale, traded, bartered or distributed to any other party; 28
or (3) such specimen of a big six African species is distributed directly 29
to a legal beneficiary of a trust or to a legal heir provided: (A) Such 30
specimen was located or possessed by the decedent prior to the effective 31
date of this section, (B) such beneficiary or heir does not subsequently 32
sell, offer for sale, trade, barter or distribute such specimen to any other 33
person, and (C) such beneficiary or heir obtains a certificate of 34
possession from the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental 35
Protection not later than one hundred eighty days after receipt of such 36
specimen. 37
(e) Any specimen of a big six African species and any other property 38
or item used in connection with a violation of the provisions of this 39
section shall be seized and held pending any criminal proceeding 40
pursuant to this section. In any criminal prosecution pursuant to this 41
section, secondary evidence, including, but not limited to, photographs, 42
shall be admissible against the defendant to the same extent as such 43
specimen would be admissible. 44
(f) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be 45
guilty of a felony and fined not more than ten thousand dollars and 46
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imprisoned not more than two years, or both. 47
(g) Upon conviction of a person for violation of the provisions of this 48
section or upon the entry of a judgment restraining a defendant from 49
importing, possessing, selling, offering for sale or transporting any 50
specimen of a big six African species on the grounds that such activity 51
is or would be a violation of the provisions of this section, any specimen 52
of a big six African species and any other property or item that is seized 53
and held pursuant to this section shall be forfeited and, upon such 54
forfeiture, destroyed, provided nothing in this subsection shall be 55
construed to require or authorize the destruction of a living specimen of 56
a big six African species. 57
(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to the 58
importing, possessing, selling, offering for sale or transporting of ivory 59
in this state. 60
(i) Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to the 61
importing, transporting or possessing of a live big six African species by 62
any zoological institution or circus. 63
(j) Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to the 64
transportation, purchase, exhibition or use of any animal in a motion 65
picture, television or digital media production by a motion picture, 66
television or digital media production company that employs or 67
contracts with a dealer or exhibitor licensed pursuant to 7 USC 2133, as 68
amended from time to time, or with a carrier, intermediate handler or 69
unlicensed exhibitor registered under 7 USC 2136, as amended from 70
time to time, to conduct such transport, purchase, exhibition or use. 71
Sec. 2. Subsection (d) of section 26-311 of the general statutes is 72
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 73
1, 2020): 74
(d) Nothing in section 1 of this act or sections 26-303 to 26-312, 75
inclusive, or any regulations adopted pursuant to said sections shall 76
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prohibit transportation through this state of any endangered or 77
threatened species in accordance with the terms of any permit issued 78
under the laws of another state provided the person in possession of an 79
endangered or threatened species can prove legal possession of the 80
species. 81
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2020 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2020 26-311(d)
Statement of Purpose:
To prohibit the import and trade of any big six African species.
[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.]