Can You Own a Cougar in Maine? What State and Federal Law Actually Say
September 20, 2026
If you have ever wondered whether you can legally keep a cougar in Maine, the short answer is more complicated than a simple yes or no. The cougar (Puma concolor), also called a mountain lion, puma, or catamount, sits at the center of two overlapping legal systems in Maine: a state permitting program that has existed for decades and a newer federal law that changed the rules for private big-cat ownership nationwide.
Before you research enclosures, feeding costs, or breeders, you need to understand exactly what Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife requires, what the federal government now prohibits, and what penalties you could face for getting it wrong. This guide walks through each layer of the law so you know where you actually stand.
Is It Legal to Own a Cougar in Maine
Owning a cougar in Maine is not outright banned, but it is far from unrestricted. State wildlife trackers that compile exotic-pet laws by state consistently place Maine in the “permit required” category rather than the “banned” or “unregulated” columns. PetHelpful’s state-by-state rundown notes that a permit is required for cougar ownership in Maine, a finding echoed by other exotic-pet resources that list the state as allowing cougars only with the proper paperwork.
That permit requirement is not a recent development. A 2011 report from the Kennebec Journal quoted a longtime Maine sanctuary owner explaining the baseline rule plainly: “You cannot own an exotic animal in the state of Maine without a permit. It’s illegal.” The same article confirmed that Maine’s wildlife director at the time acknowledged that Maine allows people to own big cats, dangerous reptiles and wolves, but only within a tightly controlled framework.
What has changed since then is the federal layer. As of the most recent guidance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, cougars are now classified as a federally regulated “prohibited wildlife species,” which adds a second hurdle on top of Maine’s existing permit system. If you are also curious how Maine treats other wild species people try to keep as pets, the state’s approach to raccoon ownership follows a similar permit-first structure.
Important Note: This article explains general legal frameworks for informational purposes and is not legal advice. Wildlife permitting rules change, and enforcement can vary by circumstance. Confirm current requirements directly with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife before acquiring any exotic animal.
What Federal Law Says About Cougar Ownership
For most of recent history, federal law left cougar ownership almost entirely to the states, regulating mostly the interstate transport of exotic animals under the Lacey Act. That changed with the Big Cat Public Safety Act (BCPSA), signed into law on December 20, 2022. The law amended the Captive Wildlife Safety Act and the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to directly restrict private possession of big cats, and cougars are explicitly named in that definition.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, prohibited wildlife species means a specimen of any of the following eight species: lion, tiger, leopard, snow leopard, clouded leopard, jaguar, cheetah, and cougar, or any hybrids of these species. The agency also clarified that big cats that are not a distinct species including pumas and panthers, as well as alternate names for the species listed above, including mountain lion, fall under the same restriction, so there is no naming loophole for cougars, pumas, or mountain lions.
The BCPSA makes new private ownership of cougars illegal nationwide, but it did not force existing owners to give up their animals. Instead, the Fish and Wildlife Service required that individuals who own big cats such as lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, cougars or hybrids of these species must register them with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by end of the day June 18, 2023 to remain in compliance. Registered owners cannot breed, sell, or acquire additional big cats, and they cannot allow the public to have direct contact with the animals.
Maine has a personal stake in this law. Senator Susan Collins co-sponsored the bill, telling reporters that big cats belong in their natural habitats, not in the hands of private owners where care is often inadequate. Her involvement reflects a broader national shift away from private big-cat ownership, driven partly by welfare concerns; the World Wildlife Fund has estimated around 5,000 captive tigers in the U.S., many living in conditions that prompted the federal crackdown in the first place.
In practical terms, this means anyone in Maine hoping to acquire a cougar today faces a closed door at the federal level unless they qualify for one of the law’s narrow exemptions, such as accredited zoos, universities, or licensed wildlife sanctuaries.
Maine’s Laws on Owning a Cougar
Maine’s core wildlife possession law predates the federal act by decades and still governs how the state treats any cougar that was lawfully acquired before the federal ban took effect. The relevant statute is 12 MRS § 12152, part of Maine’s Fish and Wildlife title. Under this law, a person may not import wildlife into or possess wildlife in the State without a permit issued by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W), except for species on the state’s unregulated list.
Cougars are not on that unregulated list. Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife maintains an official unrestricted species list covering low-risk animals such as certain tropical fish and invertebrates that commercial pet shops can sell without a permit. A cougar falls well outside that category, alongside other high-risk species like large constrictor snakes; if you have looked into which snake species are native to or restricted in Maine, you have likely seen the same permit-tiered logic applied there.
Maine’s caution here is consistent with how it treats vulnerable and high-risk wildlife more broadly. The state also enforces strong protections for its own endangered and threatened species, and cougars themselves have a complicated status in Maine’s own ecosystem since the eastern cougar subpopulation was declared extinct by federal wildlife officials, even though unverified sighting reports persist.
Violating the possession requirement is treated seriously. Under state code, Class E crime under 12 MRS § 12152: minimum $50 fine plus twice the applicable permit fee; the animal may be seized, a point covered in more detail in the penalties section below.
Permits and Requirements for Cougar Ownership in Maine
If you already legally possessed a cougar before the federal ban and want to remain compliant with Maine law, you would need to secure a Wildlife Possession Permit through the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Maine’s permit system, as documented in a state exotic-animal law summary compiled for reptile and wildlife keepers, uses a tiered structure based on the animal’s risk level.
| Permit Category | Who It Applies To | Application Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Category 1 Restricted Species | Endangered, threatened, or animals posing risk to humans (cougars typically fall here) | $250 application plus $27 permit fee |
| Category 2 Restricted Species | Animals requiring special housing | $100 application plus $27 permit fee |
| Wildlife Rehabilitation Permit | Orphaned or injured wildlife | Free |
| Research and Educational Permit | Scientific or educational use | Free |
This fee structure comes from Maine’s current statutory framework, which describes a tiered permit system: Category 1 Restricted Species (endangered/threatened animals or those posing human risk, $250 application plus $27 permit fee); Category 2 Restricted Species (animals requiring special housing, $100 application plus $27 permit). Given a cougar’s size, predatory behavior, and the human-safety risk it poses, it is generally treated as a Category 1 species.
Beyond the application fee, Maine’s exotic animal regulations set out detailed physical care standards for any permitted wildlife. A compliance document prepared for reptile and exotic-animal keepers explains that all cages and enclosures shall be kept in a sanitary condition, regular cleaning schedules shall be maintained, and trash, spilled food and fecal materials shall be removed at least once each day. The Commissioner of the Department also has authority to set specific caging dimensions when an animal is not already covered by a standard schedule, which is very likely the case for cougars given how few private individuals legally hold one.
The permitting process is not simple, and it runs in parallel with federal registration if you already owned the animal before the ban. If you are comparing this to smaller-scale exotic pet permitting in Maine, the process for legally owning a hedgehog is far less demanding, which illustrates just how much the risk tier affects the paperwork, cost, and inspection requirements involved.
Pro Tip: Even if you meet every state requirement, the federal Big Cat Public Safety Act still controls whether you can legally acquire a cougar in the first place. Contact the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s Wildlife Division before assuming a state permit alone clears you to proceed.
Local Laws That May Apply in Maine
State and federal law set the floor, not the ceiling, for exotic-animal regulation in Maine. Cities and towns retain the authority to add their own restrictions on top of what the state allows. Maine’s municipalities operate under home-rule authority, and current guidance confirms that municipalities may further restrict exotic pets under 30-A § 3001 home-rule authority, and some Maine cities ban venomous reptiles and large constrictors outright.
This means a town could theoretically prohibit cougar ownership entirely within its borders, even for someone who holds a valid state permit and federal registration. Local ordinances covering animal control tend to bundle wildlife restrictions in with more familiar rules, similar to how many Maine towns regulate everyday pet ownership through leash requirements for dogs or restrict where residents can keep livestock under backyard chicken ordinances.
Wildlife possession also intersects with other local rules in less obvious ways. Someone who finds an injured or orphaned wild animal, for example, needs to understand Maine’s rules around handling wildlife found on the road before assuming they can simply take an animal home, since unpermitted possession of any wild species, cougar or otherwise, can trigger the same state enforcement mechanism.
Before pursuing any state or federal permit, contact your city or town clerk directly and ask specifically whether local ordinances restrict exotic animal possession beyond what state law requires. Municipal rules are not always published online, and they can change independently of state statute.
Penalties for Illegally Owning a Cougar in Maine
The consequences for unpermitted cougar possession in Maine stack across both state and federal systems, and they are not limited to a simple fine.
At the state level, Maine treats unpermitted wildlife possession as a criminal matter. Current statutory guidance confirms that Class E crime under 12 MRS § 12152 carries a minimum $50 fine plus twice the applicable permit fee, and the animal may be seized. For a Category 1 species like a cougar, with a $250 application fee, that penalty structure could mean a fine well above the $50 minimum once the doubled permit fee is factored in, on top of losing the animal.
Importation adds another layer of risk. Maine’s enforcement framework specifically targets animals brought across state lines without authorization: importing wildlife without a permit additionally triggers seizure at the state line. This means a cougar transported into Maine without prior state approval can be confiscated before it ever reaches its intended destination, regardless of what paperwork the owner may have from another state.
Enforcement is not limited to state game wardens. Maine law also gives enforcement authority to other agencies, and the Department of Agriculture Pet Shop Inspector may enforce certain provisions alongside the Maine Warden Service.
On top of state penalties, federal violations of the Big Cat Public Safety Act and the underlying Lacey Act carry their own separate consequences, enforced independently by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Because the Big Cat Public Safety Act makes it illegal to privately possess or breed big cats outside the narrow registration exemption, an unregistered or newly acquired cougar in Maine can expose an owner to federal charges even if no state violation is separately identified.
Important Note: Because state and federal penalties apply independently, a single unpermitted cougar can generate both a state Class E charge and a separate federal violation. Anyone facing this situation should consult a licensed attorney familiar with wildlife law rather than relying on general information.
If you are drawn to the idea of a large, striking cat but want to avoid the legal complexity, cost, and safety concerns that come with cougar ownership, Maine already has a legendary big cat you can legally welcome into your home: the Maine Coon. These gentle giants of the cat world come in a wide range of coat colors and patterns, and they are widely regarded as good companions for families, without a single permit application in sight.
Ultimately, owning a cougar in Maine sits at the intersection of a strict state permit system, a 2022 federal law that closed the door to new private ownership, and local ordinances that can restrict things further still. Anyone seriously considering it needs to work through all three layers, starting with a direct conversation with Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, before taking a single practical step toward acquiring the animal.