West Virginia Code 20-2-12 – Transportation of wildlife out of state; penalties
(a) A person may not transport or have in his or her possession with the intention of transporting beyond the limits of the state any species of wildlife or any part thereof killed, taken, captured or caught within this state, except as provided in this section.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 20-2-12
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Director: means the Director of the Division of Natural Resources. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Fur-bearing animals: includes : (a) The mink. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Game: means game animals, game birds and game fish as herein defined. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Hunt: means to pursue, chase, catch or take any wild birds or wild animals. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Nonresident: means any person who is a citizen of the United States and who has not been a domiciled resident of the State of West Virginia for a period of thirty consecutive days immediately prior to the date of his or her application for a license or permit except any full-time student of any college or university of this state, even though he or she is paying a nonresident tuition. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Open season: means the time during which the various species of wildlife may be legally caught, taken, killed or chased in a specified manner and shall include both the first and the last day of the season or period designated by the director. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Person: except as otherwise defined elsewhere in this chapter, means the plural "persons" and shall include individuals, partnerships, corporations or other legal entities. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Resident: means any person who is a citizen of the United States and who has been a domiciled resident of the State of West Virginia for a period of thirty consecutive days or more immediately prior to the date of his or her application for license or permit. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Take: means to hunt, shoot, pursue, lure, kill, destroy, catch, capture, keep in captivity, gig, spear, trap, ensnare, wound or injure any wildlife, or attempt to do so. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Wild animals: means all mammals native to the State of West Virginia occurring either in a natural state or in captivity, except house mice or rats, and includes coyotes and porcupines and all species of cervids. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Wild birds: shall include all birds other than: (a) Domestic poultry &mdash. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Wildlife: means wild birds, wild animals, game and fur-bearing animals, fish (including minnows), reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans and all forms of aquatic life used as fish bait, whether dead or alive. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
(1) A person legally entitled to hunt and fish in this state may take with him or her personally, when leaving the state, any wildlife that he or she has lawfully taken or killed, not exceeding, during the open season, the number that any person may lawfully possess.
(2) Licensed resident hunters and trappers and resident and nonresident fur dealers may transport beyond the limits of the state pelts of game and fur-bearing animals, fur-bearer parts, including carcasses for the making of lures and baits, carcass parts, including glands, skulls, claws, and bones, and fur-bearer urine taken during the legal season.
(3) A person may transport the hide, head, antlers and feet of a legally killed deer and the hide, head, skull, organs and feet of a legally killed black bear beyond the limits of the state.
(4) A person legally entitled to possess an animal according to § 20-2-4 of this code may transport that animal, including the parts or urine of that animal, beyond the limits of the state.
(b) The director may promulgate rules in accordance with § 29A-3-1 et seq. of this code dealing with the transportation and tagging of wildlife, parts, urine and skins.
(c) A person who violates this section by transporting or possessing with the intention of transporting beyond the limits of this state deer or wild boar shall be considered to have committed a separate offense for each animal so transported or possessed. This section does not apply to captive cervids regulated pursuant to § 19-2H-1 et seq. of this code.
(d) A person violating this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $20 nor more than $300 or be confined in jail not less than 10 nor more than 60 days, or both.
(e) This section does not apply to persons legally entitled to propagate and sell wild animals, wild birds, fish, amphibians and other forms of aquatic life beyond the limits of the state.