The future of two-toed sloth and eastern gray kangaroo pet ownership hangs in the balance for Colorado residents, as the state Parks and Wildlife Commission decided this week to make a final ruling on the matter in March.
At its January meeting, Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff members asked the commission to deny two petitions that would allow domestic ownership of the exotic animals, arguing it is too risky to add the animals on the state’s “unregulated wildlife list,” which would allow residents to purchase and own the unusual wildlife without the need of a permit. Staff cited concerns that adding the animals to the list could open black market trading and increase the risk of invasive diseases, parasites and habitat loss to native Colorado wildlife and vegetation.
“These animals don’t belong in Colorado,” CPW spokesman Joe Lewandowski told The Durango Herald on Thursday. “Should people be taking these animals out of equatorial habitats so they can be pets? We’re not crazy about that idea.”
The Parks and Wildlife Commission, however, asked CPW staff members to conduct a little more research on why the petitions should be denied, and present it in March. Lewandowski said CPW will not change its recommendation to deny.
The request for the two-toed sloth came from Darcy Sanborn, a Grand Junction resident who works at a veterinarian clinic that cares for exotic animals. Her petition last year to add the animal native to Central and South America also was denied.
Sanborn argued to commissioners that the risk of disease spread is unfounded, the animal does not pose a threat to Colorado’s natural wildlife or fauna, and that sloths in their natural environment are being killed at an alarming rate because of poaching and habitat loss.
“In captivity, we can give them better food, a better environment, and the love they can’t get in the wild,” Sanborn said. “And they live longer in captivity because of this.”
There are two kinds of sloths: the two-toed and three-toed. Both are considered generally easygoing pets, nonaggressive and slow-moving. But as is the case with any exotic animal, care can be expensive and time-intensive, which Sanborn pointed out, does not make them desirable as pets.
Throughout the West, rules vary on sloth ownership, Sanborn said. Sloths can be owned with no regulations in Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma and Utah. A permit to own sloths is required in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming. And Nebraska bans the animal.
Carolyn Lantz, president of Colorado-based Aussie Kingdom, a traveling fair that showcases animals from Australia, asked for three marsupials to be placed on the list: the eastern and western grey kangaroo, as well as the agile wallaby.
Lantz told the commission the three species of marsupials would join her other Australian animals to educate people across the United States about Australia’s wildlife, which suffers from severe rates of extinction.
She pointed out that similar animals – such as the red kangaroo, as well as the Bennett and dama wallabies – are listed on the state’s unregulated wildlife list.
“My facility is already set up with full heated barns … and fenced enclosures to prevent any incidents of escape … and feel the addition of the new species is very important to my program,” Lantz wrote in her petition, adding no animal is ever taken from the wild.
Lantz said there are no restrictions or permits needed for macropus/marsupials in Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada and Oklahoma. A permit is required in Wyoming. New Mexico allows the animals only for scientific purposes, and in Utah they are illegal.
A number of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians are included on Colorado’s unregulated wildlife list.
According to the CPW website, wildlife law generally prohibits the live possession of native and exotic wildlife, but Special Wildlife Licenses can be authorized for a specific purpose, such as rehabilitation or scientific collection. CPW does not allow residents to keep regulated wildlife as pets, but wildlife on the Domestic Animals List, as well as the Unregulated Wildlife List, can be owned without a license and held as pets.
jromeo@durangoherald.com This article has been updated to reflect that the Parks and Wildlife Commission ultimately decided not to deny the petitions, but to seek more information and make a decision in March.
Unregulated Wildlife List (PDF)
