Tucson, AZ Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Tucson Code Section 4-25 governs keeping wild animals. It's unlawful for anyone having charge, care or control of a wild animal that is by nature dangerous or vicious to keep, bring, maintain or exhibit that animal within the city unless it is confined in a cage or enclosure adequate to prevent its escape and to prevent access to it by any non-authorized person. Keeping such an animal without that confinement is a misdemeanor. Section 4-9(d) defines 'wild animal' broadly: any animal now or historically found in the wild or in a wild state, meaning living in its original, natural, non-domesticated condition, and the definition specifically sweeps in hybrid crosses between wild and domestic species, such as dog-wolf crosses, which are treated as wild animals regardless of how tame an individual specimen may be.

The rule sits in Chapter 4, Article II (Livestock, Large and Dangerous Animals), alongside the livestock-at-large and dangerous-animal provisions, and its enforcement authority and impoundment procedure track Sections 4-10 and 4-11, the same removal-and-forfeiture process used for vicious or destructive animals. Zoos, wild animal parks and animal shelters that comply with Section 4-25 are not swept into the vicious/destructive-animal misdemeanor under Section 4-7(2)(a), which explicitly carves out anyone complying with this section.