§ 4709. Transport, importation, possession, and stocking of wild animals; possession of wild boar

(a) A person shall not bring into, transport into, transport within, transport through, or possess in the State any live wild bird or animal of any kind without authorization from the Commissioner or his or her designee. The importation permit may be granted under such regulations therefor as the Commissioner shall prescribe and only after the Commissioner has made such investigation and inspection of the birds or animals as she or he may deem necessary. The Department may dispose of unlawfully possessed or imported wildlife as it may judge best, and the State may collect treble damages from the violator of this subsection for all expenses incurred.

(b) No person shall bring into the State from another country, state, or province wildlife illegally taken, transported, or possessed contrary to the laws governing the country, state, or province from which the wildlife originated.

(c) No person shall place a Vermont-issued tag on wildlife taken outside the State. No person shall report big game in Vermont when the wildlife is taken outside the State.

(d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the Commissioner or duly authorized agents of the Department of Fish and Wildlife from bringing into the State for the purpose of planting, introducing, or stocking or from planting, introducing, or stocking in the State any wild bird or animal.

(e) Applicants shall pay a permit fee of $100.00.

(f)(1) The Commissioner shall not issue a permit under this section for the importation or possession of the following live species, a hybrid or genetic variant of the following species, offspring of the following species, or offspring or a hybrid of a genetically engineered variant of the following species: wild boar, wild hog, wild swine, feral pig, feral hog, feral swine, old world swine, razorback, Eurasian wild boar, or Russian wild boar (Sus scrofo Linnaeus).

(2) This subsection shall not apply to the domestic pig (Sus domesticus) involved in domestic hog production and shall not restrict or limit the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets to regulate the importation or possession of the domestic pig as livestock or as a domestic animal under Title 6 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated. (Added 1961, No. 119, § 1, eff. May 9, 1961; amended 1967, No. 46; 1973, No. 178 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 1983, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), eff. April 13, 1984; 1991, No. 230 (Adj. Sess.), § 25; 1997, No. 99 (Adj. Sess.), § 13; 1997, No. 155 (Adj. Sess.), § 45, eff. Jan. 1, 1999; 2003, No. 163 (Adj. Sess.), § 16; 2013, No. 78, § 15, eff. June 7, 2013; 2017, No. 170 (Adj. Sess.), § 9.)