Calaveras County, CA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Calaveras County Code Section 6.04.030 broadly defines 'wild animal' to include any animal described in California Fish & Game Code Sections 2116 and 2118, plus specific listed groups: carnivores other than the domestic dog and cat (including the cat family such as tigers, leopards, and cougars, and the dog family such as wolves, coyotes, and foxes), raccoons, striped skunks, marsupials such as kangaroos and opossums, bats, elephants, and primates such as monkeys, chimpanzees, and gorillas. It also includes any venomous animal (with an exception for honey-producing bees) and certain rabies-capable hybrids. Section 6.14.060 makes it unlawful to keep within the county any animal of the family Canidae capable of transmitting rabies unless it can be vaccinated, except that wild animals may be kept only 'with a valid permit issued by the Department of Fish and Game at an approved facility,' and this exception does not apply to hybrids. The definition list of restricted species specifically names monkeys, raccoons, skunks, foxes, poisonous snakes, leopards, panthers, tigers, lions, and lynx. In short, exotic and wild animals are not ordinary pets here: keeping them requires compliance with California Fish & Game Code Sections 2116 through 2118 and any required state permit, and the county incorporates and enforces those state standards.