Champaign, IL Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Section 7-5(a) forbids keeping, harboring or allowing to be kept within the city any lion, tiger, leopard, ocelot, jaguar, cheetah, margay, mountain lion, lynx, bobcat, jaguarundi, bear, hyena, wolf, wolf-hybrid or poisonous reptile, along with any other animal normally wild and dangerous to human life. The same subsection bans livestock and hoof stock (goats, sheep, swine, cattle, horses, pygmy or miniature farm animals) and poultry or byproduct birds (roosters, turkeys, geese, ducks). The ordinance states plainly that it is no defense that the owner attempted to domesticate the animal.

Three carve-outs apply: animals at the Prairie Farm Exhibit at Centennial Park, run by the Champaign Park District, are exempt under § 7-5(b); animals maintained by zoological parks, humane societies, federally licensed exhibits, veterinary hospitals or educational institutions are exempt under § 7-5(c); and hens are permitted if they meet the licensing standards of § 7-19, per § 7-5(d). Any prohibited animal not covered by one of those exemptions is declared a nuisance under § 7-5(e) and becomes subject to impoundment under Article II of Chapter 7, enforced by the City's Animal Control Warden (§ 7-2) and its contracted Animal Shelter (§ 7-3). B. 97-33 in 1997, with amendments in 1998 and 2013 that added the hen carve-out.