NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1977 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 794

HOUSE BILL 1337

 

 

AN ACT TO PREVENT KILLING COUGARS AND TO ESTABLISH A PENALTY FOR VIOLATION.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  G.S. 113-87 is hereby amended by adding a new sentence at the end thereof to read as follows:

"Nothing in this section shall authorize the killing of, or the issuance of a permit to kill, any cougar (felis concolor)."

Sec. 2.  G.S. 113-109 is hereby amended by adding thereto a new subsection (g) to read as follows:

"(g)       Any person who shall take as defined in G.S. 113-83 or possess any cougar (felis concolor) shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction therefor, shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars ($500.00) or imprisoned for not less than six months, or both in the discretion of the court."

Sec. 3.  Nothing in this act shall prevent the possession of a cougar (felis concolor) by a bona fide publicly supported zoo or by an educational or scientific research institution under permit from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

Sec. 4.  G.S. 113-102 is hereby amended by striking the last sentence which reads:

"It shall be unlawful to take North American panthers (cougars) at any time."

Sec. 5.  This act shall be enforced by all officers of the Wildlife Resources Commission constituted as "wildlife protectors" as defined in G.S. 113-128.

Sec. 6.  This act shall become effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 29th day of June, 1977.