Harming wildlife could constitute to a crime in Nevada. Learn about them through this informative slideshow from Attorney Ross Goodman!

1. Wildlife Crimes: Offenses
Involving Plants & Animals

2. If you go to Nevada, particularly in Las Vegas
where there are enclosures and preserves of
flora and fauna and you happened to violate
particular laws that protect them,
understand that the State will impose
charges against you.
You can learn more about charges for
wildlife crimes in this presentation.

3. Types of animals and plants in Nevada
Common animals bounding on sands and rocks
are coyotes, foxes, jackrabbits, bighorn sheep,
deer, and reptiles such as geckos, tortoises,
rattlesnakes, and more. For birds, Nevada has
quails, grebes, trumpeter swans, and some
migratory birds like the mergansers.
Plants thriving in Nevada are also the usual
sorts you see in deserts such as yucca, cacti,
greasewood, and Joshua trees.

4. The Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) define wildlife as “any wild mammal, wild bird, fish, reptile,
amphibian, mollusk or crustacean found naturally in a wild state, whether indigenous to Nevada or
not and whether raised in captivity or not.”
While not explicitly stated, plants are a part of wildlife as they too are living organisms that impact
the entire ecosystem.

5. While hunting is legal in Nevada, it is under boundaries that
you cannot overstep. According to NRS 501.376, you cannot
intentionally kill the following animals:
• Bighorn sheep
• Mountain goat
• Elk
• Deer
• Pronghorn antelope
• Mountain lion
• Black bear

6. It is also unlawful to import and sale game
mammals, game birds, game amphibians, and
game fish as well as feeding big game mammals
(black bears, mule deer, antelopes) without
proper authorization.
Wildlife trade is considered illegal in the entirety
of the US and becomes a federal crime if you take
the animal, living or as a processed product
across the state.

7. Chapter 527 of the NRS talks about unlawful
acts against the flora in Nevada.
You cannot unceremoniously cut down any
wood, timbers, or trees in the State without
proper permission.
It is also illegal to cut, destroy, mutilate, and
pick trees, shrubs, and flowers in the private
lands of the State without authorization,
especially ones that are endangered or
preserved by the Department of Wildlife.

8. Penalties of wildlife crimes
Killing an animal under forbidden conditions in Nevada could get
you a charge of category E felony with penalties such as a prison
term of not more than one year and a fine of $5,000.
In addition, if you kill or possess a trophy big game mammal you
will have to pay a civil penalty that ranges from $25 to $1,000.
Hunting, fishing, and trapping without a proper license could also
include a civil penalty of not less than $50.

9. For the rest of the violations of wildlife crimes,
a person could be charged with a
misdemeanor which includes jail time of not
more than six months and fines of $50 to
$5,000.
Cutting down a tree or destroying plants
without appropriate permission makes you
guilty of a public offense and will make way
for a misdemeanor charge.

10. How an attorney can help
If the violation was committed in Las
Vegas, your Las Vegas criminal defense
lawyer will help you in coming up with
defenses that you can use. Below are a
few:
•You did not intend to kill an animal or
destroy a plant
•You were under duress
•You were drugged or intoxicated
•Not enough evidences
•It was purely accidental
•You were acting out of self-defense

11. We are not the sole residents of this earth—there are beings
that also deserve to live to the fullest, unethically hunting
them or putting the survival of their kind on risk incurs
criminal charges.
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