Can You Own a Chimpanzee in Colorado? What State and Federal Law Say

If you’re picturing a backyard enclosure for a pet chimpanzee in Colorado, state law has already closed that door. Colorado treats non-human primates as prohibited wildlife, and outside of a handful of narrow, decades-old exceptions, there is no legal path for an ordinary resident to bring home a chimpanzee. The rules involve a mix of state statutes, a stalled federal bill, and local ordinances that can add even more restrictions on top.

Understanding why requires looking at three separate layers of law: what Congress has and hasn’t passed, what Colorado’s Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act actually prohibits, and what your city or county might add to the mix. Below is a breakdown of each layer, along with the permits, exemptions, and penalties that apply.

Is It Legal to Own a Chimpanzee in Colorado

For nearly everyone, the answer is no. The common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) falls under Colorado’s broad ban on private possession of exotic wildlife. According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), the agency takes the position that Colorado does not allow private possession of exotic animals or wildlife, unless specifically authorized by CPW regulation. That policy applies whether the animal in question is native or imported.

Specifically for great apes, the Animal Legal & Historical Center notes that Colorado’s Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act prohibits the importation, possession, sale, and transfer of apes by exotic pet owners and animal dealers. That single sentence covers gorillas, orangutans, bonobos, and gibbons in addition to chimpanzees. A companion resource from the Colorado Virtual Library confirms the ban extends beyond apes: monkeys and other primates, exotic pigs, certain kinds of frogs, exotic bovids such as wildebeest, and ruminants like oryx are illegal to possess in Colorado.

It helps to see this in context. Colorado’s protective posture isn’t limited to exotic species brought in from other countries — it also covers native wildlife you might assume is fair game. Species like hawks, eagles, bats, and salamanders are all treated as public resources rather than personal property. As the Colorado Virtual Library puts it, wildlife are a “public resource” so cannot be owned by individuals, according to Colorado Parks & Wildlife, and it’s for the animals’ own good. If you’re looking for a legal companion animal instead, domesticated species like pet rabbits remain unrestricted and require no special permit.

Pro Tip: Before assuming any animal is legal to keep, check CPW’s current prohibited species list rather than relying on what neighboring states allow — Colorado’s rules are notably stricter than many surrounding states.

What Federal Law Currently Says About Primate Ownership

You might expect federal law to settle this question outright, but it doesn’t. According to the Animal Welfare Institute, aside from the ban on importing primates for the pet trade, there are no federal laws governing the sale or keeping of primates as pets. The Animal Welfare Act offers some protection, but only to a limited group: primates used in research or held by dealers and exhibitors are provided protection under the Animal Welfare Act, but this does not extend to those in private homes.

That gap is exactly what a bipartisan group of lawmakers has tried to close. The Captive Primate Safety Act (H.R. 3199/S. 1594) would outlaw the sale, breeding, and possession of pet primates in the United States, protecting both the animals and public safety. According to Wikipedia’s summary of the bill, it modifies the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to treat nonhuman primates as prohibited wildlife species, allowing exemptions for zoos and research facilities.

Congressman Mike Quigley reintroduced the bill in May 2025 alongside Representatives Fitzpatrick, Brownley, and Mace, along with Senator Richard Blumenthal. A press release from his office explains that the lawmakers introduced the bill to ban the private ownership of primates like chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs, bolstering public safety and animal welfare, drawing a direct comparison to an earlier success: Quigley’s Big Cat Public Safety Act, signed into law in 2022, banned the private ownership and breeding of big cats including lions, tigers, and pumas. As of the bill’s 2025 reintroduction, Congress had not yet enacted the Captive Primate Safety Act, so no nationwide ban on private primate ownership currently exists.

One reason lawmakers keep pushing the bill is public safety data. The Animal Legal Defense Fund notes that over the last three decades, at least 300 people have been injured by nonhuman primates held in private homes and facilities. Separately, chimpanzees also carry protected status under the Endangered Species Act. According to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, recent conservation advocacy has built on the ending of the split listing for chimpanzees in the Endangered Species Act, meaning captive chimps are now treated the same as wild ones for federal protection purposes. That designation overlaps with Colorado’s own list of endangered animals in Colorado, adding another layer of federal oversight on top of the state ban.

Colorado’s Laws on Owning a Chimpanzee

Colorado’s approach to apes specifically is narrower — and stranger — than you might expect. Rather than folding chimpanzees into the same licensing system used for tigers or wolves, the state largely regulates them through PACFA’s ban on exotic pet dealers, while leaving chimps held for other purposes with comparatively light state oversight. The Animal Legal & Historical Center explains that there is little state-level regulation of chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, bonobos, and gibbons that are possessed for other purposes beyond the pet trade prohibition itself.

That doesn’t mean anyone can simply apply for a chimpanzee permit. The exemptions are limited to specific categories: federally licensed exhibitors (like circuses, zoos, animal acts, and some wildlife sanctuaries), scientific research facilities, and disabled people can import and possess apes. There’s also a grandfather clause dating back more than 50 years — anyone who possessed a pet ape on or before July 1, 1973 may keep that ape for the remainder of the animal’s life. In practice, that clause is now essentially closed to new owners, since it only protects chimps already in someone’s possession over five decades ago.

Interestingly, ape ownership is carved out from some of the state’s usual facility licensing. Normally, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources licenses all facilities with wild and exotic animals and regulates the importation, housing, care, and use of animals by all state licensees. But a facility that houses only apes doesn’t automatically trigger that full licensing scheme — it’s only when apes are combined with other regulated wildlife, such as a wildlife park that also keeps a tiger or an exotic rodent, that the operator must obtain a Commercial Wildlife Park License and meet accreditation standards.

Permits and Requirements for Chimpanzee Ownership in Colorado

Because private chimpanzee ownership is banned outright, there’s no application form a resident can fill out to get one legally. The “permits” that exist apply only to the exempt categories described above. Here’s how those requirements break down:

Exemption Category	Requirement
Pre-1973 pet apes	Documented possession on or before July 1, 1973; the ape may be kept for its lifetime, but not replaced or rehomed to a new private owner
Licensed exhibitors	Federal exhibitor license covering zoos, circuses, animal acts, or accredited sanctuaries
Research facilities	Compliance with Animal Welfare Act research-facility licensing
Disabled individuals	Documented under PACFA’s historical provision for ape possession by disabled persons

Even within these exempt categories, importing any animal into Colorado carries its own paperwork. Under state law, it is illegal to import any live wildlife without an import permit and a health certificate. That requirement mirrors the broader framework covered in Colorado’s pet import laws, which apply to legally transportable animals moving into the state.

Important Note: None of these exemptions function as a pathway for a private resident to newly acquire a chimpanzee today. They exist to accommodate animals and facilities that predate the current ban or that operate under federal oversight — not to create a permit option for pet ownership.

Local Laws That May Apply in Colorado

Even in the unlikely event that someone qualifies for a state-level exemption, city and county rules can add another layer of restriction. Colorado’s exotic animal framework sets a floor, not a ceiling, and municipalities are free to go further. As one overview of Colorado pet law notes, some cities have set their own list of prohibited domestic animals that go beyond the state regulations.

Denver offers a familiar example of this layered approach, though it applies to dogs rather than primates: the city of Denver prohibits pit bull breeds, a restriction that exists entirely separate from state law. Colorado’s dog breed restrictions follow the same municipal-layering pattern that could apply to any exotic or dangerous animal ordinance a city chooses to enact. Local zoning codes can also dictate whether a property is even eligible for an animal enclosure large enough to house a primate, separate from any wildlife licensing question.

Animal control and containment ordinances matter here too. Many counties enforce their own leash and containment requirements for any animal capable of escaping an enclosure, and broader leash law standards can extend liability to an owner if an exotic animal gets loose, regardless of whether the animal was legally possessed. The practical guidance from most Colorado sources is consistent: be sure to check with your city’s animal control department to see if there are any additional requirements or restrictions before assuming state law is the only obstacle.

Penalties for Illegally Owning a Chimpanzee in Colorado

Colorado backs its exotic wildlife ban with real criminal penalties, not just administrative warnings. Under C.R.S. § 33-6-109(4), it is unlawful for any person to have in his possession in Colorado any nonnative or exotic wildlife except in accordance with the rules and regulations of the commission. A first violation is treated as a misdemeanor: any person who violates this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than one thousand dollars.

The penalty doesn’t stop at the fine. Colorado also imposes license suspension points tied to hunting and fishing privileges: such person shall be assessed ten suspension points per incident for possessing an animal on the prohibited species list and five suspension points per incident for possessing any other nonnative or exotic wildlife species. Because chimpanzees also carry federal endangered species status, illegal possession could expose an owner to Colorado’s tougher endangered-species penalty tier as well, which is considerably harsher: for each animal listed as endangered or threatened, a fine of not less than two thousand dollars and not more than one hundred thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year in the county jail, or by both such fine and such imprisonment, and an assessment of twenty points.

Beyond fines and jail time, the animal itself is at risk once authorities get involved. Legal analysis of Colorado’s exotic animal rules confirms that if a person is found to be in illegal possession of a regulated animal, authorities have the right to seize and confiscate the animal. What happens next is rarely a happy ending for the chimp: this process is often stressful for the animal and can result in its placement in a sanctuary or, in some cases, euthanasia. And the consequences for the owner don’t end when the case closes — a conviction carries a fine of not less than $250 and not more than $1,000 and results in a permanent criminal record.

Important Note: This article summarizes publicly available legal information and is not a substitute for advice from a licensed Colorado attorney. Wildlife regulations can change, and enforcement details vary by county — confirm current rules directly with Colorado Parks and Wildlife before making any decisions involving exotic animals.

Taken together, these three layers — federal, state, and local — leave almost no realistic path to legally owning a chimpanzee in Colorado today. The state’s PACFA ban, the absence of a completed federal law, and the possibility of added municipal restrictions all point the same direction: chimpanzees belong in accredited sanctuaries, zoos, and research facilities, not private homes. For more on how Colorado regulates the animals residents can and can’t keep, the state’s broader Colorado wildlife law coverage is a useful starting point before acquiring any unusual pet.