You’d be surprised to know the animals you cannot own in our city.

If you ask anyone outside of the state of Louisiana, they will probably assume that we not only can own an alligator but that most of us do. After all, how do they expect us to get to and from our destination down here in the swamp? Just hop on ole Gater and head down the bayou.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, we cannot own alligators as pets. Not even here in Louisiana. After coming to that realization, I must admit, I got a little curious. So what can we own as pets in Louisiana?

After a little research it became very clear that Louisiana has some of the strictest laws when it comes to owning exotic animals. To take it even further, I learned that within the state, you’d be hard-pressed to find a city with stricter exotic animal pet laws in our state.

So, after doing a deep dive, I have ten animals you absolutely cannot own in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Tiger

The next Tiger King definitely won’t be residing in Shreveport.

LION

For the same reasons as a tiger, a lion also cannot be owned by a Shreveporter, no matter how awesome the idea seems in your head.

BEAR

Oh come on, did you actually think you could own a bear in Shreveport? Hey, I’ve seen Cocaine Bear, it’s a big “no thanks” for me regardless of our laws.

CHIMPANZEE

Despite the fact that it would be ridiculously awesome, and you would instantly have more friends than you could imagine, you can’t legally own a chimpanzee as a pet in Shreveport.

POISONOUS SNAKES

To be honest, this was the first one I found that shocked me. Obviously, I don’t think anyone should own a poisonous snake, but I didn’t realize it was illegal to do so in Shreveport.

KOMODO DRAGON

I know, you were hoping the awesome Komodo dragon would fall under the “CAN OWN” list. Sadly, you cannot own one of these bad boys in Shreveport.

WOLF

This one can be tricky because we’ve all definitely seen dogs that can easily pass as wolves in Shreveport. When it comes to wolves, Shreveport laws take it a step further by also outlawing the ownership of a hybrid wolf interbred with a domestic dog.

FOX

As cute and cuddly as this artic fox looks, it would likely make a horrible pet. For many reasons, you cannot own a fox of any variety as a pet in Shreveport, LA.SKUNK – CAN’T OWN

SKUNK

I have a hard time believing that anyone out there is disappointed by the revelation that you cannot legally own a skunk as a pet in Shreveport.

DEER

Of course here in Shreveport, we love our deer. We mainly love hunting them and eating their meat, but love them nonetheless. Sadly, however, we aren’t allowed to own Bambi as a pet in our town.