Illegal newt shipping (?!)

[leanne]

Hello,
I just discovered that it is illegal (technically a Federal Offense) to ship red-spotted newts and/or eggs anywhere out of my state (Tennessee). I called the wildlife/game/forestry service in my town and the guy said it was illegal and I asked for a second opinion. He gave me the number to call in Nashville (615)781-6580, and told me to talk to Officer Walter Cook, who affirmed that it was indeed a Federal Offense and that the last person caught mailing newts from TN to Florida got SEVENTEEN years in prison. !!!!

I am not sure what the heck to believe---so many people here ship their animals without a hitch, but knowing my luck if it is illegal I will be the one caught at it.

Any input is welcome---especially if you happen to call this number and get a different story than I got.

 

[nate]

Tennessee has an idiotic blanket law that makes it illegal to collect any native herp, regardless of how common or rare they are. Yes, that means it is illegal for your 5 year old kid to bring a bullfrog tadpole home from a pond, and yes, TN is very militant about it all. I think the 17 year thing is a silly exaggeration, but I wouldn't really put anything past TN.

 

[joe]

Nate is correct about this (boy was I surprised when I read the law). The excerpt below is from the TN Wildlife Resources Agency website at: http://www.state.tn.us/twra/faqmain.html

"In Tennessee, no one is allowed to keep any animal as a pet taken from the wild, which to many people's surprise includes tadpoles, frogs, lizards, snakes, turtles, baby birds, squirrels, raccoons, and young deer."

While it's not specific to newts, the reference to tadpoles is pretty clear. And the statute itself says "no wildlife...".

So Leanne, the issue isn't so much the shipping (though obviously shipping an illegal animal compounds the offense), the shipping becomes an issue because of possession of a newt that someone gets from a pond or an eft you find in your garden. I think Nate got this one exactly correct--it's idiotic. But to simply possess a native pet (unless, according to the law, you have a certificate you got it from a petstore) puts one in violation of the law. Yikes!

 

[joe]

BTW, while we're looking at TN, is anyone aware of any other such strange laws within the USA for possession and/or shipping of newts? Besides the standards CITES and ESA compliance of course...

 

[edward]

Most of the laws deal with commercial trade (any transaction with any value (this includes trades)) and possession limits. For example in Pennsylvania it is illegal to collect any salamanders without a fishing liscense, the limit is two animals in aggregate and the animals cannot be used in a commercial transaction. That said, I could collect two salamanders and ship them to a friend. (To be on the safe side, I should probably eat the shipping cost in the above example to be exactly safe).
In New Jersey it is illegal to remove any native species from the wild with a permit from the DNR.
Ed

 

[nate]

The other states I know of with blanket laws prohibiting the collection of native species, regardless of conservation status, are WA, NJ, VT, and AK.

 

[jennifer]

And doesn't Oregon have some law forbidding keeping any non-native caudate in captivity, or some such unbelievable restriction?

 

[nate]

Yeah, OR lists a ton of non-natives that can't be kept due to the possible establishment of wild populations. It's as if someone just went through a list of caudate genera (an outdated list at that) and included them on the "can't keep" list. After all, I don't think Amphiumas are a major risk to be established in OR, for example. Pretty ridiculous.

 

[Jan]

Actually, I think you can get a license to keep a native animal in TN, although I have no idea how many hoops you have to jump through. We have had a case here in Knoxville the past two weeks of a "pet" bobcat that escaped (for the third time) and wasn't recaptured until yesterday. Fortunately the owner decided to give up the license....But it's interesting to know that I was breaking the law last summer when I let my kids keep a pair of five-lined skinks (they even mated and laid eggs!). We let them go in the fall, but don't tell anyone that we collected them in our wild garage!

 

[nate]

Yes, you can get permits to keep native TN animals if you purchase/collect them from out of state and can prove this. Then again, TN reserves the right to deny your request for any reason.

 

[joe]

Nate, I think the other exception to the TN blanket law is if you acquire the animal from a non-native circumstance (ie: purchase from a store), the animal was captive-bred and you have a certificate indicating such.

So...I could ship Eastern Newts to TN. Or...I could buy Eastern Newts from a petstore in TN (if they could prove that they imported them OR that they were captive bred). But I can't take an Eastern Newt from a pond on my property (if I lived in TN).

 

[nate]

Right, but you still need a permit from them to bring them into the state. You could ship eastern newts that had been purchased in another state, but you would need permission from TN to bring them into the state and keep them.

BTW Joe, I finally have some eggs for you. Drop me a line and I'll ship.