(1) No person, party, firm, or corporation shall exhibit to the public either with or without charge or admission fee any venomous reptile without having first posted a good and sufficient bond in writing in the penal sum of $10,000 payable to the commission, conditioned that such exhibitor will indemnify and save harmless all persons from injury or damage from such venomous reptiles so exhibited and shall fully comply with all laws of the state and all rules and regulations of the commission governing the capturing, keeping, possessing, or exhibiting of venomous reptiles; provided, however, that the aggregate liability of the surety for all such injuries or damages shall, in no event, exceed the penal sum of the bond. The surety for the bond must be a surety company authorized to do business under the laws of the state or in lieu of such a surety, cash in the sum of $10,000 may be posted with the commission to ensure compliance with the conditions of the bond.

(2) No person, party, firm, association, or corporation shall possess or exhibit to the public either with or without charge or admission fee, any Class I wildlife, as defined in s. 379.303 and commission rule, without having first guaranteed financial responsibility, in the sum of $10,000, for any liability which may be incurred in the possession or exhibition to the public of Class I wildlife. The commission shall adopt, by rule, the methods of payment that satisfy the financial responsibility, which may include cash, the establishment of a trust fund, an irrevocable letter of credit, casualty insurance, a corporate guarantee, or any combination thereof, in the sum of $10,000 which shall be posted with the commission. In lieu of the $10,000 financial responsibility guarantee required in this subsection, the person, party, firm, association, or corporation has the option to maintain comprehensive general liability insurance, with minimum limits of $2 million per occurrence and $2 million annual aggregate, as shall protect the person, party, firm, association, or corporation from claims for damage for personal injury, including accidental death, as well as claims for property damage which may arise. Proof of such insurance shall be submitted to the commission.

History.—s. 3, ch. 28263, 1953; s. 588, ch. 95-148; s. 167, ch. 99-245; s. 3, ch. 2007-239; s. 161, ch. 2008-247; s. 3, ch. 2010-185.

Note.—Former s. 372.88.