No, you cannot own a raccoon in Kansas. State law treats raccoons as public wildlife that no private individual can possess as a pet, and there is no exotic-pet license, breeder permit, or personal-ownership exception that changes that.1Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 32-1002 – Unlawful Taking or Dealing in Wildlife The only legal way to hold a raccoon in Kansas is a wildlife rehabilitation permit, and that permit exists to return injured or orphaned animals to the wild, not to let you keep one.
Why Kansas Says No
Under K.S.A. 32-1002, it is unlawful to possess any wildlife in Kansas, dead or alive, without authorization from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) or its regulations. The same statute bars buying, selling, shipping, or exchanging wildlife without a permit.1Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 32-1002 – Unlawful Taking or Dealing in Wildlife Raccoons are native Kansas wildlife, so they fall squarely inside that prohibition.
Public health law closes the other door. Kansas regulation 28-1-14 prohibits the sale or vaccination of raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes, and other wild animals known to carry rabies.2Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Rabies Even in a hypothetical where you got around the wildlife ban, no Kansas veterinarian could legally vaccinate your raccoon against rabies. That turns any bite into a serious liability problem.
What Happens If You Keep One Anyway
KDWP warns that fines for picking up or keeping wild animals without authorization run up to $1,000, and both KDWP and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment enforce the rules.3Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Keep Wildlife Wild Possession without authorization is penalized under the general wildlife penalty statute referenced by K.S.A. 32-1002.1Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 32-1002 – Unlawful Taking or Dealing in Wildlife
Money is only part of it. An illegally held raccoon can simply be seized. And if the animal bites someone or there is any suspicion of rabies exposure, Kansas health authorities can require that it be euthanized and tested, because no approved observation protocol exists for raccoons the way one does for vaccinated dogs and cats.
The Health Risks Behind the Ban
Raccoons are a primary rabies reservoir in the United States, and no parenteral rabies vaccine is approved for use in them. That is the public-health reason Kansas forbids even trying to vaccinate one.2Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Rabies
Raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis) is the second concern. Infected raccoons shed millions of eggs in their feces, and people are infected by accidentally ingesting contaminated soil or waste. Human cases are rare, but when they happen the parasite can migrate to the eyes and cause blindness, invade organs, or reach the brain and produce severe neurological damage, including coma. No drug has been found completely effective against Baylisascaris in humans, and no widely available diagnostic test exists. The CDC advises against keeping raccoons as pets for exactly these reasons.4Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Raccoon Roundworm
The One Legal Way to Hold a Raccoon
Kansas Administrative Regulation 115-18-1 authorizes KDWP to issue wildlife rehabilitation permits. Permit holders can take in sick, injured, or orphaned wildlife, including raccoons, for the purpose of returning the animal to the wild. The regulation requires rehabilitators to minimize human contact and prevent the animal from imprinting or bonding to humans, and it requires wildlife to be housed separately from domestic animals except where a domestic animal is being used as a surrogate parent.5Legal Information Institute. Kansas Administrative Regulation 115-18-1 – Wildlife Rehabilitation Permit This is not a pet license. If the goal is a raccoon on your couch, this permit does not provide it.
Qualifying is demanding on its own terms. Applicants must be at least 18, have 100 hours of hands-on wildlife handling experience logged over at least a calendar year, provide three long-standing references from wildlife professionals or Kansas-licensed veterinarians, hold a recent training certificate from the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council or the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association (or pass a KDWP exam at 80 percent or better), name an assisting licensed veterinarian on the application, and pass a facility inspection before any permit is issued.5Legal Information Institute. Kansas Administrative Regulation 115-18-1 – Wildlife Rehabilitation Permit Permits run through December 31 of the year issued and must be renewed annually.
If You Have Found a Raccoon
Most people searching this question have run into a raccoon, not a breeder catalog. KDWP’s guidance is to leave young raccoons alone. Babies old enough to walk can climb back to their den, and younger ones are usually retrieved by the mother. Picking a wild animal up is itself a violation that can carry fines up to $1,000.3Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Keep Wildlife Wild
If a raccoon is genuinely injured, orphaned for an extended period, or causing damage inside a home or outbuilding, contact a licensed Nuisance Wildlife Damage Control Permit Holder through KDWP, or a permitted wildlife rehabilitator who can accept the animal.3Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Keep Wildlife Wild Those are the people legally authorized to remove and handle raccoons.
Buying One from Out of State Doesn’t Fix It
Importing a raccoon from a state where ownership is legal does not create a Kansas workaround. The federal Lacey Act makes it an offense to transport, sell, or acquire any wildlife taken or possessed in violation of state law.6U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Lacey Act The moment the animal crosses into Kansas, where possession is prohibited, you are exposed to both state wildlife charges and a potential federal violation on top.
Is the Law About to Change?
In the 2025-2026 session, Kansas House Bill 2297 proposed authorizing the state animal health commissioner to issue permits for raccoon ownership, with required education, vaccination, annual veterinary checkups, breeding restrictions, and a $1,000 fine for violations resulting in seizure of the animal. The bill died in committee in April 2026 without a floor vote, leaving the existing prohibition fully intact.7Kansas Legislature. Kansas House Bill 2297 – Relating to Raccoon Ownership The legislature has looked at legalization and declined, so the answer for the foreseeable future is still no.