The Exotic Wildlife Association’s bill to exempt seven more species from the permitting process of the Endangered Species Act has been filed in the House of Representatives by Congressman Ted YoHo ( R ) of Florida. HR 4208, if passed, would be similar in nature to the three species bill that was passed in 2013. It would drop the requirements of having a Captive Wildlife Breeders permit as well as a take permit on captive U.S. born animals in order to buy, sale, or trade across state lines and to manage the breeding herd through commercial hunting. The species this would affect is the Arabian Oryx, Red Lechwe, Barasingha, Eld’s Deer, Grevy’s Zebra, Banteng, and Gaur.
We are working on a daily basis, through the EWA lobbyist and your executive director to move this bill to a successful conclusion. We are asking our members and their friends to please contact your Congressman and two Senators and ask them to please support HR 4208. Remind them that the passage of the three species bill has resulted in doubling the numbers of the Scimitar Horned Oryx, Dama Gazelle, and Addax Antelope. If passed HR 4208 will do the same for the next seven species. A copy of the bill is attached to this alert.
116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 4208
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to prohibit treatment of certain non-native, non-indigenous hoofstock born within the borders of the United States as an endangered species, a threatened species,
an essential experimental population, or a nonessential experimental population.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 23, 2019
Mr. Yoho introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to prohibit treatment of certain non-native, non-indigenous hoofstock born within the borders of the United States as an endangered species, a threatened species, an essential experimental population, or a nonessential experimental population.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PROHIBITION OF TREATMENT OF CERTAIN HOOFSTOCK AS ENDANGERED SPECIES, THREATENED SPECIES, ESSENTIAL EXPERIMENTAL POPULATION, OR NONESSENTIAL EXPERIMENTAL POPULATION.
Section 3 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (167 U.S.C. 1532) is amended by inserting before the first sentence the following:
‘‘(a) In General.—’’; and (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(b) Limitation.—‘(1) A covered hoofstock born within the borders of the United States shall not be treated as an endangered species, a threatened species, an essential experimental population, or a nonessential experimental population under this Act. In this this subsection the term ‘covered hoofstock’ means any barasingha, red lechwe, Arabian oryx, Eld’s
