Can You Own a Cougar in Wyoming? What State and Federal Law Actually Say

You want to know: can you own a cougar in Wyoming? The short answer is no, not as a household pet. Wyoming classifies cougars as a protected trophy game species, and federal law now backs that up with its own private-ownership ban, closing off nearly every legal path to keeping one in your backyard.

That does not mean the topic is simple. Between state statutes, a 2022 federal law, and county-level ordinances, cougar ownership in Wyoming sits at the intersection of several overlapping rulebooks. Here is how each layer applies, who (if anyone) can still legally possess one, and what happens if you try to sidestep the rules.

Is It Legal to Own a Cougar in Wyoming

No. Wyoming does not permit private citizens to own a cougar (Puma concolor) as a pet, and hasn’t for years. The species is also known as the mountain lion, puma, or panther depending on the region, but under Wyoming law it falls into a legal category that specifically excludes private possession.

Wyoming statute places mountain lions in a group the state calls “trophy game animals,” a designation that also covers black bears and grizzly bears. There shall be no private ownership of live animals classified as big or trophy game animals, and “trophy game animal” means black bear, grizzly bear, or mountain lions. Separately, wildlife regulators note that harmful wild animals include cougars, bears, and wild and feral swine, a classification that triggers its own set of restrictions independent of the trophy game rule.

Even before you get to the federal side of things, this state-level prohibition alone answers the question for most people. If you are researching other regulated species in the state, the same “state property” logic applies to animals covered in guides like Wyoming’s raccoon ownership rules and the state’s broader list of dangerous animals that carry their own possession restrictions.

What Federal Law Says About Cougar Ownership

Until recently, federal law barely touched private big-cat ownership. Prior to the enactment of the Big Cat Public Safety Act, the United States had no federal law regarding the possession or breeding of big cats, except where there was a violation of another federal law, such as the Endangered Species Act or CITES. That changed on December 20, 2022, when Congress closed the gap.

The Big Cat Public Safety Act makes it illegal to privately possess or breed big cats, ending private ownership of big cats as pets and prohibiting public contact with big cats, including cubs. The law names its covered species directly: the prohibited wildlife species listed in the Act include lion (Panthera leo), tiger (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera pardus), snow leopard (Uncia uncia), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), jaguar (Panthera onca), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), and cougar (Puma concolor). There is no ambiguity here: cougars are treated exactly like lions and tigers under this statute.

The law works by amending two older statutes. It amends the Captive Wildlife Safety Act to prohibit the private possession of lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, cougars, or any hybrid of these species, while also revising requirements governing the trade of big cats under the Lacey Act, which prohibits any person from importing, exporting, buying, selling, transporting, receiving, or acquiring big cats across state lines or the U.S. border. The exemptions are narrow: this prohibition is narrowly focused on pet big cats and exempts zoos, sanctuaries, and universities.

There was a one-time grace period for existing owners. Current owners are grandfathered in and are simply required to register their animals to ensure that first responders and animal control officers are aware of the presence of such animals in their communities. That registration window has already closed.

Important Note: The registration deadline for pre-Act big cat owners was June 18, 2023. As of the 2026 publication date of this article, that window is long past, and the Act does not allow pre-Act owners to acquire additional big cats after December 20, 2022 — only registered pre-Act animals may remain privately held.

This federal ban does not erase state authority. As Rebecca Wisch of Michigan State University’s Animal Legal & Historical Center has explained, the Big Cat Public Safety Act provides a baseline of what is prohibited, and with states that had existing laws, it did not preempt those laws but instead cooperates with them. Wyoming’s own statute, discussed below, was already stricter than the federal floor. Readers curious about how federal wildlife protections intersect with state rules elsewhere may also want to review Wyoming’s approach to endangered species, which follows a similar layered structure.

Wyoming’s Laws on Owning a Cougar

Wyoming’s foundational wildlife statute starts from a simple premise: the state owns the wildlife within its borders. All wildlife in Wyoming is considered the property of the state, and the statute goes further by stating plainly that there is no private ownership of live animals classified as big or trophy game animals. Mountain lions fall squarely into that trophy game category, alongside black and grizzly bears.

This is a different legal framework than the one governing many other exotic pets in the state. Species defined as wild animals, including amphibians, reptiles, mollusks, crustaceans, or birds not found in a wild, free, or unconfined status in Wyoming may sometimes qualify for a possession permit through the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Cougars do not get that option because the trophy game designation overrides the general exotic species permitting pathway.

It’s worth comparing this to how Wyoming treats other unconventional pets. Species covered in guides on goat ownership or hedgehog ownership in Wyoming face permit requirements or livestock regulations, but none carry the outright constitutional-style ban that applies to trophy game animals. That distinction matters if you are weighing legal exotic or unconventional pet options against a cougar, which simply is not on the table.

Permits and Requirements for Cougar Ownership in Wyoming

Because private ownership is off-limits, the only realistic paths to legally possessing a cougar in Wyoming involve institutional, research, or educational purposes, not personal pet keeping. Prior to importing, possessing, or transporting live wildlife in Wyoming, a permit is required, and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department reviews these applications individually rather than issuing blanket approvals.

Two permit categories cover most legitimate cougar-related possession:

Permit Type	Primary Purpose	Who Typically Qualifies
Chapter 10 Permit	Commercial use, exhibition, or possession of live warm-blooded wildlife	Accredited exhibitors, licensed facilities, commercial operations
Chapter 33 Permit	Scientific research, education, or conservation-related special purposes	University researchers, wildlife biologists, approved research projects

All non-game wildlife used for any type of commercial use requires a Chapter 10 permit for possession, while wildlife used for scientific research, education, or a special purpose deemed beneficial to conservation or management goals may, upon approval, be possessed with a Chapter 33 permit. Neither category is designed with pet ownership in mind, and approval is far from automatic.

Each application to possess live wildlife is reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and if a species is allowed for possession under a permit, wildlife housing restrictions and other conditions may be required prior to permit issuance and during the permit’s timeframe. In practice, that means secure enclosure standards, veterinary documentation, and ongoing compliance checks, on top of whatever the federal Big Cat Public Safety Act separately requires for registered animals.

Pro Tip: If you work in wildlife research, education, or accredited sanctuary operations and believe you may qualify for a permit, contact the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s regional office directly before submitting an application. Case-by-case review means informal pre-screening can save significant time.

Permit-based possession for institutions is a fundamentally different animal than pet ownership, similar to how Wyoming treats regulated activities like beekeeping, where a structured permit process exists but personal, unregulated ownership does not qualify as a workaround.

Local Laws That May Apply in Wyoming

State-level prohibition is not the end of the story. Wyoming Game and Fish Department guidance is explicit that while the Department may allow the possession or importation of various wildlife species, local laws, ordinances, and covenants may be more restrictive, and it is your responsibility to comply with all local laws, ordinances and covenants before importing or possessing live wildlife. Since cougars are already barred at the state level, this mostly matters for the institutions that hold Chapter 10 or Chapter 33 permits.

The Wyoming Livestock Board, Wyoming Department of Health, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, counties, municipalities, and subdivisions have enacted further rules and regulations pertaining to the possession of wildlife. A county zoning ordinance, homeowners association covenant, or municipal nuisance code could add additional layers even for a permitted facility, the same way local governments sometimes tighten rules around other animals, as seen in Wyoming’s patchwork of rooster crowing ordinances or breed-specific dog restrictions that vary by jurisdiction.

Important Note: Never assume that state silence on a specific address, facility, or property means automatic approval. Contact your county planning office and city clerk before assuming any permitted wildlife use is compliant at the local level.

Penalties for Illegally Owning a Cougar in Wyoming

Wyoming backs its trophy game protections with real financial and criminal consequences. Wyoming Statute 23-3-102 states that any person who kills a mountain lion without a proper permit or outside of mountain lion hunting season is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a $5,000 to $10,000 fine and may be imprisoned up to one year. Illegal possession, not just illegal killing, falls under related enforcement provisions administered by the Game and Fish Department.

This is not a theoretical risk. In one 2024 enforcement case, Game and Fish reported that an individual was cited for a misdemeanor violation of Wyoming Game and Fish Commission regulations, Chapter 10, Importation and Possession of Live Warm-Blooded Wildlife, illustrating that the permitting chapter discussed above carries genuine citation authority, not just paperwork requirements.

Key Insight: Because state and federal law both prohibit private cougar possession, an illegal owner can face charges under Wyoming statute and the Big Cat Public Safety Act simultaneously. The two systems operate independently, so resolving one violation does not clear the other.

On the federal side, penalties tie back to the Lacey Act framework the Big Cat Public Safety Act amended, which already governs interstate wildlife trafficking with its own fines and forfeiture provisions. If you inherited or otherwise came into possession of a cougar without registering it during the federal window, federal authorities have outlined a narrow path forward rather than simply leaving owners exposed: you could donate your big cat to another entity that qualifies to possess big cats under one of the Act’s exceptions, or contact the USFWS Office of Law Enforcement to discuss abandonment if you did not register and are unable to donate your big cat.

Beyond fines and potential imprisonment, unlawful possession also exposes owners to civil liability if the animal injures someone or damages property, a risk that mirrors the exposure discussed in Wyoming’s dog bite liability laws. Between state misdemeanor charges, federal enforcement, and the civil side of animal-related injuries, the practical reality is that owning a cougar in Wyoming carries far more legal exposure than any private benefit could offset.