Travis County, TX Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

Section 232.012(e) of the Park Rules, part of the chapter's broader Preservation of Park Property, Plants, and Wildlife provisions, states that "Visitors are prohibited from disturbing, feeding, harming, collecting, hunting, restraining, trapping or releasing animals." The rule applies across every Travis County park, from Hamilton Pool Preserve to Wild Basin Preserve, and sits alongside related protections in the same section: visitors cannot damage or remove archaeological, paleontological, or historical features, cannot dump waste or garbage, and cannot remove natural materials such as timber, rock, or vegetation, though edible plants or fruit may be picked for personal consumption if it will not harm the plant.

The wildlife-feeding ban serves the chapter's stated intent in Section 232.002, to let visitors have a safe park experience while protecting the parks for future generations, and it also functions as a public-safety measure, discouraging the kind of habituation that turns deer, raccoons, or waterfowl aggressive toward park visitors. The rule was re-adopted with the rest of Chapter 232's current Park Rules by Commissioners Court Order 2025-09-30, Item 53, effective September 30, 2025, and applies to all users and visitors of Travis County Parks under Section 232.003.