Boise, ID Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Section 5-1-12(A) makes it unlawful to harbor, keep, maintain or possess a long list of wild animals inside the City. The mammal list bans nearly the entire cat and dog families (except domesticated cats and dogs), all nonhuman primates, most rodents and insectivores (hedgehogs are allowed), marine mammals such as whales, dolphins and seals, elephants, bears, bats, and animals from families like Procyonidae, Mustelidae (except domestic ferrets), Vivirridae, Hyaenidae and Xenarthra (sloths, anteaters, armadillos). The bird list bans ostriches, cassowaries, penguins, cranes, flamingos, hornbills, herons, and every bird of prey or owl.

The reptile list bans sea turtles, Galapagos and Aldabra tortoises, Komodo dragons, all crocodilians, wild-caught Gila monsters and beaded lizards, most venomous elapids and viperids other than housed North American species, tuataras and anacondas, plus any insect the USDA or Idaho Department of Agriculture lists as an agricultural pest. Subsection B extends the same ban to any animal listed as threatened or endangered at the state or federal level, and to any animal that was illegally imported. Subsection C carves out a narrow set of institutional exceptions: bona fide zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, licensed veterinary hospitals treating sick or injured animals, educational or medical institutions accredited by the Idaho Department of Education, wildlife rehabilitators permitted by Idaho Fish and Game, and raptor keepers permitted by Idaho Fish and Game.

Anyone keeping a prohibited animal under one of those exceptions must cage or enclose it securely enough to prevent escape while still giving it reasonable freedom of movement, keep it from threatening or annoying neighbors, notify the Animal Shelter immediately if it escapes, allow inspections of the animal and any state or federal permit, and care for it humanely under state and federal animal-welfare law. A property that simply attracts wild native birds, bats, reptiles or fish on its own, without artificial confinement, is not treated as harboring a prohibited animal.