Keeping native animals

Keeping native animals, requires knowledge and skills and often requires a permit.

You may want to keep a native animal, or the eggs of native animals, for a variety of reasons, including:

as a pet or hobby at home
to breed and sell as a part of a business (e.g. fauna dealer)
for display or demonstration (e.g. in a zoo, wildlife park or as a wildlife educator)
as part of a conservation project
for use of their biological products (e.g. snake venom)
for scientific research purposes.

If you are looking for information on caring for wild, rescued native animals, please see helping wildlife.

If you are looking for information on farming emus, please see sustainable use of native animals and plants.

Considerations for keepers

It is important to provide native animals with suitable care and living conditions that mimic their natural environment and protect their welfare.

Before you decide to keep a native animal, consider the following:

Do you understand the needs of the animal and can you meet their requirements (e.g. living environment, diet, social needs)?
Can you manage any health and safety risks to other people or animals?
Do you have access to a suitably skilled veterinarian if required?
Have you checked if you require a permit to keep the animal?

Sourcing a native animal

Most native animals can be purchased from captive breeders who hold permits to keep, sell or give away captive bred animals:

Fauna dealers sell captive bred native animals as part of a commercial business (e.g. pet shop).
Recreational native animal keepers can also sell or give away animals as a hobby.

It is illegal to take a native animal, or the eggs of a native animal, from the wild without an appropriate permit and heavy penalties apply.

Rescued native animals cannot be sold or kept as a pet and must be released back to where they were found.

For information on keeping dingos see the PIRSA webpage for wild dogs and dingoes.

Selling or gifting native animals

Do you have a native animal that you would like to sell, swap, gift or give away?

There are many reasons you may want to sell or give away a native animal, including:

you don’t have the skills or experience to care for the animal
your circumstances have changed
you have inherited the animal from someone.

You, and the person who receives the animal from you, may need a permit.

If you sell or give your native animal to someone interstate, a protected animals export permit may also be required.

You are not allowed to release a captive animal into the wild. If you can’t find someone to sell or give your captive native animal to contact the Fauna Permits Unit.