Exotic pet laws in South Dakota

South Dakota bans none of the 52 animals on this list outright, but 3 of them need a permit before the animal arrives.

3 permit required49 no restriction found

Read against the published rules, entries verified 4 August to 5 September 2026. Every entry below quotes the statute or regulation it comes from and carries the date it was last checked.

The governing body of law here: ARSD chapter 12:68:18, the Animal Industry Board's nondomestic animal control rules, whose permit list covers mammals. Reptiles, amphibians and native wildlife fall under the Game, Fish and Parks rules in ARSD title 41, which were not read for this entry.

Not Legal Advice
This is a record of what the published rules say, not legal advice. Exotic pet law changes without much notice and varies by county and city as well as by state, so treat the entries below as a starting point and confirm anything you are relying on with the state wildlife agency before you acquire an animal.

How South Dakota decides

Two requirements sit in the same chapter here and are easy to conflate. An entry permit, free and obtainable by telephone, is required to import any nondomestic animal. A possession permit, ten dollars per animal and renewable annually by 1 January, is required only for the mammal families listed in ARSD 12:68:18:03. The only outright prohibition in the chapter is the raccoon dog.

The statutory bar reaches mammals and nothing else. SDCL 40-3-24 provides that no person may bring in or possess any nondomestic mammal unless the Animal Industry Board rules allow it, and nothing in title 40 or title 41 puts a reptile or an invertebrate under a possession permit at all. That is why forty-nine of these fifty-two entries are clear.

The Bengal is answered by placement rather than by a hybrid clause. The words or any of its hybrids sit inside the operative sentence instead of in a provision of their own, so a Bengal is caught by the Felidae entry and needs the same ten dollar permit as the serval. No filial cutoff is given anywhere in the chapter.

What South Dakota restricts

3 of 52, strictest first. Open one for the rule it comes from.

Bengal catPermit required

12:68:18:03(1)(a)

a permit as described in § 12:68:18:03.03 is required to possess in South Dakota any nondomestic mammal, or any of its hybrids, listed in this section

The words or any of its hybrids sit in the operative sentence rather than in a separate clause, so a Bengal is caught by the Felidae entry. No filial generation cut off is given.

How this rule works: Two separate requirements sit in the same chapter and are easy to conflate. An entry permit, free and obtainable by telephone, is required to import any nondomestic animal. A possession permit, ten dollars per animal, is required only for the mammal families listed in 12:68:18:03. The only outright prohibition is the raccoon dog.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

ARSD 12:68:18, Nondomestic Animal Control →Bengal cat in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row
Fennec foxPermit required

12:68:18:03(1)(b)

(1) Of the order Carnivora, all nondomestic members of the following families: ...(b) Canidae;

How this rule works: Two separate requirements sit in the same chapter and are easy to conflate. An entry permit, free and obtainable by telephone, is required to import any nondomestic animal. A possession permit, ten dollars per animal, is required only for the mammal families listed in 12:68:18:03. The only outright prohibition is the raccoon dog.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

ARSD 12:68:18, Nondomestic Animal Control →Fennec fox in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row
ServalPermit required

12:68:18:03(1)(a)

a permit as described in § 12:68:18:03.03 is required to possess in South Dakota any nondomestic mammal, or any of its hybrids, listed in this section: (1) Of the order Carnivora, all nondomestic members of the following families: (a) Felidae;

A possession permit costs ten dollars an animal and must be renewed annually by 1 January.

How this rule works: Two separate requirements sit in the same chapter and are easy to conflate. An entry permit, free and obtainable by telephone, is required to import any nondomestic animal. A possession permit, ten dollars per animal, is required only for the mammal families listed in 12:68:18:03. The only outright prohibition is the raccoon dog.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

ARSD 12:68:18, Nondomestic Animal Control →Serval in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row

No restriction found in South Dakota

49 of 52. Each was read against the same body of law as the entries above and nothing in it reaches them. Local ordinances and tenancy terms still apply and are not on this map.

Cite this page

Every entry here is quoted from the statute or regulation it comes from, with the date it was last read against the published text.

Before you rely on this

This page covers state law only. Cities and counties routinely prohibit what South Dakota allows, and a lease or HOA agreement can bar an animal that every level of government permits. Check all three, and check them in that order, because the one most likely to stop you is the one closest to your front door.

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