Licence for the Importation of Live Wild Animals or Birds

Regulations were made in 1989, under Section 52 of the Wildlife Act, 1976, (Control of Importation of Wild Animals and Wild Birds), Regulations, 1989. Under these Regulations, the importation of live wild animals or birds are subject to licence by the Minister.

Applications are submitted on a standard form obtainable from:

Download the ‌Application for Import Licence

Each application is considered on its merits and applications are referred to local management and/or research staff for recommendation. The decision made to grant or refuse the licence is made by an officer designated by the Minister to issue licences on his/ her behalf.

Because of the wide variety of species covered by these Regulations each application under these regulations is considered on its individual merits. In general, the principal factors taken into account are the potential impact of the imported species on indigenous species, facilities available for housing the species and other relevant factors such as Environmental Health considerations and the protection of the animals themselves.

In this regard advice may be sought on behalf of the Minister from other agencies such as the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Protection of Animals Acts), Local Authorities in relation to Environmental Health and/or Planning Considerations, and the Zoological Society of Ireland.

Import applications in relation to species covered by Regulation 338/97 which implements provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species must comply with the provisions on the processing of applications in relation to CITES. These provisions are set out in detail in the Regulations implementing CITES in the EU as follows: