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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 925
January Session, 2021
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, 2021) (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
possessed, sold, offered for sale or transported in violation of this 15
section. 16 Substitute Bill No. 925
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(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 or is to be used by a zoological institution for 27
educational purposes, provided such specimen is not subsequently 28
sold, offered for sale, traded, bartered or distributed to any other party; 29
or (3) such specimen of a big six African species is distributed directly 30
to a legal beneficiary of a trust or to a legal heir provided: (A) Such 31
specimen was located or possessed by the decedent prior to the effective 32
date of this section, (B) such beneficiary or heir does not subsequently 33
sell, offer for sale, trade, barter or distribute such specimen to any other 34
person, and (C) such beneficiary or heir obtains a certificate of 35
possession from the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental 36
Protection not later than one hundred eighty days after receipt of such 37
specimen. 38
(e) Any specimen of a big six African species and any other property 39
or item used in connection with a violation of the provisions of this 40
section shall be seized and held pending any criminal proceeding 41
pursuant to this section. In any criminal prosecution pursuant to this 42
section, secondary evidence, including, but not limited to, photographs, 43
shall be admissible against the defendant to the same extent as such 44
specimen would be admissible. 45
(f) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be 46
guilty of a felony and fined not more than ten thousand dollars and 47
imprisoned not more than two years, or both. 48
(g) Upon conviction of a person for violation of the provisions of this 49 Substitute Bill No. 925
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section or upon the entry of a judgment restraining a defendant from 50
importing, possessing, selling, offering for sale or transporting any 51
specimen of a big six African species on the grounds that such activity 52
is or would be a violation of the provisions of this section, any specimen 53
of a big six African species and any other property or item that is seized 54
and held pursuant to this section shall be forfeited and, upon such 55
forfeiture, destroyed, provided nothing in this subsection shall be 56
construed to require or authorize the destruction of a living specimen of 57
a big six African species. 58
(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to the 59
importing, possessing, selling, offering for sale or transporting of ivory 60
in this state. 61
(i) Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to the 62
importing, transporting or possessing of a live big six African species by 63
any zoological institution or circus. 64
(j) Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to the 65
transportation, purchase, exhibition or use of any animal in a motion 66
picture, television or digital media production by a motion picture, 67
television or digital media production company that employs or 68
contracts with a dealer or exhibitor licensed pursuant to 7 USC 2133, as 69
amended from time to time, or with a carrier, intermediate handler or 70
unlicensed exhibitor registered under 7 USC 2136, as amended from 71
time to time, to conduct such transport, purchase, exhibition or use. 72
Sec. 2. Subsection (d) of section 26-311 of the general statutes is 73
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 74
1, 2021: 75
(d) Nothing in section 1 of this act, sections 26-303 to 26-312, inclusive, 76
or any regulations adopted pursuant to said sections shall prohibit 77
transportation through this state of any endangered or threatened 78
species in accordance with the terms of any permit issued under the 79
laws of another state provided the person in possession of an 80 Substitute Bill No. 925
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endangered or threatened species can prove legal possession of the 81
species.82
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2021 26-311(d)
ENV Joint Favorable Subst.