Kokomo, IN Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Kokomo Code of Ordinances § 96.14(A), inside Chapter 96's Parks and Recreation rules, prohibits anyone within the confines of a city park from hunting, pursuing with dogs, trapping, using walkie-talkie radios or planes, or in any other way molesting a wild bird or animal, and separately bars robbing or molesting any animal den or bird nest or taking the eggs of any bird. The only carve-out is a specific written permit issued by the Superintendent of the Parks and Recreation Department, and that permit may be granted solely for area management, overabundance, disease, or inbreeding control of wildlife populations, not for recreational hunting or collecting.

The rule sits alongside separate fishing provisions in subsections (B) through (E): the Superintendent may close specific park waters to fishing and post them accordingly, all fish size and catch limits follow state statutes, introducing nongame species such as carp or dogfish without permission is unlawful, and anglers age 16 to 65 must carry a certified fishing card backed by a valid state license. Enforcement runs through park rangers, defined in § 96.10 as employees, patrolmen, or law enforcement officers appointed by the Board of Park Commissioners to enforce park rules, and through the Superintendent, who by definition acts for the Board and maintains law enforcement within the Department.

Because § 96.14 sits under the general Chapter 96 rules first adopted by Ordinance 4809 in 1979, its penalty defaults to § 96.99: a fine of not more than $1,000, with each day a violation continues charged as a separate offense.