Clifton, NJ Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

Section 203-40, part of Article VII added in 1997, prohibits feeding, causing to be fed, or providing food for wild water fowl anywhere in Clifton, on land publicly or privately owned; the article's stated purpose is that large numbers of swans, geese, brant and river and sea ducks around City ponds create a public-health nuisance. Section 203-41 exempts humane acts toward wild water fowl in individual cases, such as temporarily nurturing a wounded bird on one's own premises, and Section 203-42 puts enforcement in the hands of the Police Department and Health Department.

Article IX, added in 2005, separately targets other unconfined wildlife: Section 203-53 bans feeding any wildlife in a public park or on any other City-owned or City-operated property, defining wildlife broadly as all animals that are not domesticated, but excluding confined wildlife such as animals in zoos, parks, rehabilitation centers, or unconfined wildlife at environmental education centers. Unlike the water fowl ban, this second prohibition applies only to City property, not private land. Section 203-54 lets the Police and Health Departments order anyone caught feeding wildlife to stop immediately, and Section 203-55 sets the penalty for that article at a fine of up to $1,250, imprisonment for up to 90 days, or up to 90 days of community service.