How to buy, sell or export wildlife parts and products

What are wildlife parts and products?

Wildlife parts include:

• antlers;
• hides;
• claws;
• feathers;
• fur;
• teeth; and
• other non-edible parts of wildlife.

 

Manufactured products made from wildlife include:

• carvings;
• tanned hides;
• tuftings;
• clothing or clothing which contains fur trim;
• taxidermy items; and
• any other products made from wildlife parts.

Buying wildlife parts and products

Buying and selling these items is regulated by wildlife conservation laws.

Buying from a licensed craft shop, taxidermist or tanner is the safest way to purchase wildlife products.

If you want to buy a wildlife part from an individual, make sure they have a permit for the sale. The sale is not legal without a permit issued prior to the sale.

Don’t buy wildlife parts or products from an unlicensed business. Items purchased without a permit, or from an unlicensed manufactured product business may be seized. You will not get an export permit.

If you need advice about a buying opportunity, email environmentyukon@yukon.ca or phone: 867-667-5652 or toll free in the Yukon: 1-800-661-0408, ext. 5652.

Finding wildlife parts

To possess any part of a wildlife carcass you've found in the field, you must first bring the item to a Department of Environment office and ask for a permit to possess wildlife found by chance. A conservation officer will ask you a few questions and may issue a permit depending on the circumstances and if possession of the wildlife is permitted under the Wildlife Act. However, they cannot issue permits for certain species protected by federal legislation.

You don't need a permit to keep a naturally shed moose, caribou, elk or deer antler as long as the burr at its base is intact.

You may need a licence or permit to sell wildlife parts and products. The type of licence or permit you need depends on:

• what you are selling; and
• how it was harvested.

This does not refer to meat or other edible parts of wildlife. It is illegal to sell or make profit from food products made from wildlife harvested in the Yukon.

No additional licence or permit required

Licensed trappers

You don’t need a permit to sell or trade the pelt of a furbearing animal or black bear that you legally harvested.

Licensed hunters

If you have a Yukon resident hunting licence, you don’t need a permit to sell hides or pelts from the following animals if you harvested them during the term of your hunting licence and have met all the reporting and sealing requirements.

• Moose;
• caribou;
• wood bison;
• wolf; or
• coyote.

First Nations and Inuvialuit

Subsistence rights holders in the Yukon do not need a permit to give, barter, trade or sell any products from wildlife harvested under their subsistence rights, among rights holders. This includes edible products and manufactured goods like clothing, art and tools.

If you would like to sell non-edible products made from wildlife taken under your subsistence rights to non-subsistence rights holders, you will need to get a manufactured products licence.

Products from protected species are excluded including raptors, bears and migratory birds.

For more information on First Nations and Inuvialuit selling wildlife parts and products made from animals harvested under subsistence harvest rights, contact any Department of Environment office or your First Nation government.

Additional licence or permit required

Wildlife parts or products

If you are selling, trading or distributing wildlife parts or products harvested under a Yukon resident hunting licence, you will need a Wildlife Act permit. Contact a Department of Environment office to apply. The amount of wildlife sold cannot be greater than the annual bag limit for that species, and specific restrictions on types of parts and species will apply.

Selling manufactured products made from wildlife

You need a manufactured products licence to sell items made from wildlife. These products have undergone a shaping process like garment production, tanning, taxidermy, milling or weaving, which has changed it into an item of commerce.

Manufactured products are the final result of these processes. Manufactured products include:

• carvings;
• tanned hides;
• clothing;
• tuftings;
• jewellery; and
• any other products that contain wildlife parts or products.

All wildlife or wildlife parts used to make the product must come from animals legally harvested under the Wildlife Act.

Get a manufactured products licence

1. Make an appointment with a conservation officer at a Department of Environment office.
2. Attend the interview.
3. If successful, pay the $2 licence fee.
4. Submit record of wildlife purchased and received forms to a conservation officer within 10 days after the end of each month. You can get these forms from a Department of Environment office.

Your licence is valid from April 1 to March 31.

If you had a licence last year and you followed all the rules, you will not need to make an appointment with a conservation officer to renew your licence.

Fur trading

You need a fur trading licence to sell raw pelts that you didn’t harvest under your own trapping licence. Fur traders may have an individual trading on their behalf under the authority of an agent licence.

Get a fur trading licence

1. Make an appointment with a conservation officer at a Department of Environment office.
2. Attend the interview.
3. If successful, pay the appropriate fee.
4. Submit Record of wildlife purchased and received forms to a conservation officer within 10 days after the end of each month. You can get these forms from a Department of Environment office.

Your licence is valid from April 1 to March 31.

Licence fees

• Yukon resident: $25
• Non-resident: $300
• Non-resident restricted (valid for 7 days, licence only issued once to you every year): $25
• Agent: $5

Do I need a permit?

You need a wildlife export permit before you can transport wildlife parts from the Yukon whether you bought it, found it, or harvested it yourself. Export permits are no longer required if you have up to 20 kilograms of processed big game meat. You are also exempted from an export permit if you are returning to the Yukon with big game harvested in the Yukon using the most direct route through the Northwest Territories, travelling on the Nahanni Range Road within 24 hours.

Apply for a wildlife export permit

1. If you hunted the animal, make sure you reported your harvest, made all biological submissions and paid all harvest fees.
2. Complete the wildlife export permit application form in-person at a Department of Environment office. You will need to have the following information on hand to do this:
   • Complete name, address and phone number of the sender.
   • Complete name, address and phone number of the recipient.
   • Name of person who harvested the wildlife.
   • Licence (hunting or trapping) or permit number and year the wildlife item was legally harvested or possessed.
   • Species and description of the wildlife part.
   • Sheep horn plug number, if applicable.
   • Number of packages in the shipment.
3. Submit the application.
4. When you receive your permit, you must clearly mark your shipment containing wildlife parts with:
   • Name and address of the sender.
   • Wildlife export permit number.
   • A true statement of contents.

Endangered species and CITES permits

You will need to get an additional Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) permit if you want to export any parts of the following wildlife out of Canada from the following species:

• grizzly bear;
• black bear;
• polar bear;
• otter;
• lynx; or
• wolf.

 

Many countries have their own import requirements for wildlife parts. It is your responsibility to make sure your items meet the import requirements of the country you are shipping to.

The Canada Border Services Agency will inspect all shipments at the point of export. They will validate the CITES permit at that time.

Apply for a CITES permit

For grizzly bear, black bear, lynx, otter and wolf:

1. If you are a non-resident big game hunter, make sure you have an outfitter/chief guide/hunter report harvest fee receipt and wildlife export (OHE) permit first.
2. Complete the appropriate federal application form for the parts or products you intend to export.
3. Contact the nearest Department of Environment office at least 24 hours in advance and say that you intend to get a CITES permit.
4. Submit the application at the Department of Environment office.

 

The Government of Yukon cannot edit existing permits or reissue expired permits.

For polar bear:

Apply for a permit directly through the Government of Canada.