Federal Fish and Wildlife Permit Applications and Reports – Requirements for African Elephants

Our final rule (RIN 1018-BG66) will: (1) to increase protection for African elephants in response to the recent rise in international trade of live African elephants by establishing ESA permit requirements and specific enhancement requirements for the import of wild-sourced elephants, as well as requirements to ensure that proposed recipients of live African elephants are suitably equipped to house and care for them; (2) to clarify the existing enhancement requirement during our evaluation of an application for a permit to import African elephant sport-hunted trophies; and (3) to incorporate a Party’s designation under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) National Legislation Project into the decision-making process for the import of live African elephants, African elephant sport-hunted trophies, and African elephant parts and products other than ivory. We find it is appropriate for the United States to propose requirements under the ESA to ensure that activities with live African elephants under U.S. jurisdiction contribute to enhancing the conservation of the species and that live African elephants are well cared for, so that any domestic demand for live African elephants enhances the conservation of the species and does not contribute to the decline in populations of the species in the wild. In addition, clarifying the enhancement requirement for the import of African elephant sport-hunted trophies and receiving information from the range countries will enable us to ensure that authorized imports contribute to enhancing the conservation of the species and do not contribute to the decline in populations of the species. Benefits of clarifying the enhancement standards for the import of African elephant sport-hunted trophies also include increased transparency with stakeholders in the decision-making process. We propose allowing certain types of imports only from countries that have met the basic requirements to implement CITES under their national laws in order to support U.S. African elephant efforts. Finally, we anticipate these measures will affect implementation in foreign countries of management measures that enhance African elephant conservation.

The latest form for Federal Fish and Wildlife Permit Applications and Reports – Requirements for African Elephants expires 2027-04-30 and can be found here.

Application - Interstate Commerce or Transfer of Captive-Held African Elephants under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) (Form 3-200-37h) 50 CFR 17.40(e) (Individuals)

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Natural Resources - Conservation, Marine and Land Management

Review document collections for all forms, instructions, and supporting documents - including paper/printable forms.