1 Importers must also meet all requirements of the U.S. Department of the Interior regulations relevant to the importation of elephants, hippopotami, rhinoceroses, and tapirs, including regulations concerning ports of entry.

An elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, or tapir shall be imported into the United States only:

At Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; and Newburgh, New York; or

On a case-by-case basis, at another port of entry if:

The animals will be inspected and treated at a facility provided by the importer;

The Administrator has determined that the importer's facility is adequate for inspection, treatment, and incineration required under this section;

The Administrator has determined that an inspector is available to perform at the importer's facility the services that are required under this section; and

The Administrator has determined that an inspector is available to perform at the port of entry the services that are required under this section if the animals will be inspected and treated at a facility provided by the importer.

An elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, or tapir shall be entered into the United States only under the following conditions:

Any documents accompanying the animal shall be subject to inspection by an inspector at the port of entry;

If the animal is to be moved from the port of entry to a facility provided by the importer:

At the port of entry the animal shall be subject to as much inspection by an inspector as is feasible and shall be sprayed or dipped, as feasible, under the supervision of an inspector and with a permitted dip listed in § 72.13(b) of this chapter;

At the port of entry, as much hay, straw, feed, bedding, and other material as can feasibly be removed from the shipping crate or vehicle containing the animal shall be removed, sealed in plastic bags, and incinerated by the importer under the supervision of an inspector;

At the port of entry, the shipping crate or the vehicle containing the animal shall be sealed by an inspector with an official seal of the United States Department of Agriculture:

If the animal is moved from the port of entry in a shipping crate, plastic must be fastened around the shipping crate so that all animal waste, hay, straw, feed, bedding, and other material accompanying the animal are retained inside the crate, but not so as to interefere with ventilation, feeding, and watering of the animal;

After the arrival of the animal at the facility provided by the importer, the seal shall be broken by an inspector;

The animal shall be inspected by an inspector within 24 hours of being unloaded at the port of entry or at a facility provided by the importer, and shall be treated under the supervision of an inspector, as follows:

The animal shall be removed from its shipping crate or cargo hold, placed on a concrete or other nonporous surface, and physically inspected for ectoparasites by an inspector. If inspection and treatment are not performed upon unloading, the animal must be isolated from all other animals, except those in the same shipment, and kept in a facility with a nonporous floor and where any ectoparasites that may drop off the animal can be contained and destroyed, until the animal has been inspected and treated;

If the inspector finds no ectoparasites, the animal shall be sprayed or dipped one time in accordance with label instructions with a permitted dip listed in § 72.13(b) of this chapter; or

If the inspector finds ectoparasites, the animal shall be sprayed or dipped in accordance with label instructions with a permitted dip listed in § 72.13(b) of this chapter for as many times as necessary until the inspector finds no ectoparasites; and thereafter the animal shall be sprayed or dipped one additional time in accordance with label instructions with a permitted dip listed in § 72.13(b) of this chapter;

All hay, straw, feed, bedding, and other material that has been placed with the animal at any time prior to the final treatment referred to in paragraph (b)(3) of this section, and any plastic sheet used to wrap any shipping crate, shall be sealed in plastic bags and incinerated under the supervision of an inspector;

Any shipping crate shall be, under the supervision of an inspector, either cleaned and disinfected using a disinfectant listed in § 71.10 of this chapter or incinerated; and if the shipping crate is cleaned and disinfected, it shall then be treated under the supervision of an inspector with a permitted dip listed in § 72.13(b) of this chapter;

Any means of conveyance used to transport an animal not in a shipping crate shall be, under the supervision of an inspector, cleaned and disinfected using a disinfectant listed in § 71.10 of this chapter and then treated with a permitted dip listed in § 72.13(b) of this chapter.