Dangerous Animal Initiative Update

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that we wrapped up the DAI meetings (actually we have one more, but it's only to finalize the final report).

Anyway, you can view all details on virginiaanimals.net, but to make a long story short, the group actually accomplished something, much to my surprise to be honest with you. We were able to put together recommendations to ensure all NEW facilities that hold "Class 1" animals plus a couple of extra ones to a higher standard for caging requirements, training, etc. The animals that we as a group recommended to be regulated are as follows:
Baboons Elephants Leopards
Bears Gavials Lions
Black caimans Gelada baboons Orangutans
Cape buffalos Gibbons Rhinoceros
Chimpanzees Gorillas Siamangs
Cougars, panthers Hippopotamuses Snow leopards
Crocodiles (except dwarf & Congo) Jaguars Tigers
Drills and mandrills Komodo dragons Hybrids of the above

These are animals considered to be "Class 1" from the ZAA listing. As such, facilities holding these animals will require certain standards, but.... zoos with these animals will be grandfathered in and the new rules will apply only to new facilities.

I will go more into the specifics a bit later, but just want you guys to know that for now... no snakes have been added to any restrictions. We fought hard to keep snakes off the lists.... even though there was a last minute attempt by HSUS and others to add snakes to the list.... the only reptiles that are restricted is the Komodo dragon, crocodiles and caimans.. and who the hell owns one of those in Va? Anyway, battle seems to have been won...for now... but rest assured the HSUS will probably lobby for a ban of snakes at next year's legislative session. I'll keep you guys informed.

Cheers,
Larry

Congrats and many thanks. Glad there was good progress.

Awesome!! Thanks so much Larry.

Thanks for the update and hard work! I know that you put a lot of effort into this fight.

Thanks. Guess I have to strike off the Komodo dragon off my Christmas list.

Well you can still get one. The rules dint go in effect until next year a nd youd be grandfathrred in. Lol

Quick, must order my Komodos for my moat!!!

Please have them fix the spelling of "Gavial". The correct spelling is "Gharial" (derived from the Hindi ghariyal) which refers to the ghara (Hindi for "pot") describing the bulbous swelling around the nostrils of mature males.

Hey JW, they took the names of this list from the ZAA Class 1 list. I'm not sure why they still use the name Gavial, when in fact the correct name is Gharial. I will forward this information to them to make that change.

Why are these new bills including crocs at all. It is my understanding that it is already illegal to have them here. When I moved back, I had to leave mine behind…..

Hi Chuck,

You are correct, and there was discussion about this. But the charter for the Dangerous Animal Initiative was to come up with a comprehensive list of controlled animals;some that were already on the DGIF list and others that were added via consensus of this group. This was to update, modify and recommend to the general assembly new regulations for certain exotic/dangerous species. We made sure to keep snakes and other reptiles and amphibians off of this list. So, nothing really changes in regards to the crocodilians.