(a) General rule.--Unless otherwise provided, it is unlawful for any person to buy, sell or barter, or aid, abet, assist or conspire to buy, sell or barter, or offer for sale or barter, or have in possession or transport for sale or barter, any game or the edible parts of game or any protected bird or animal or parts of any protected bird or animal.
(b) Imported game.--It is unlawful for any person to sell or barter, or offer for sale or barter, any game or wildlife protected by this title imported, either dead or alive, from another state or nation unless there is attached to the carton containing the game or wildlife or to the individual carcasses a tag identifying the game or wildlife in English and giving the state or nation from which originally shipped.
(c) Exception.--
(1) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent:
(i) The purchase or sale of game raised under the authority of a propagating permit in this Commonwealth.
(ii) The capture and sale of game or wildlife after securing a permit from the director and payment of any fees established by the commission.
(iii) The sale of the tanned, cured or mounted heads or skins, or parts thereof, of any game or wildlife not killed in a wild state in this Commonwealth.
(iv) The sale or purchase of any inedible part thereof, from game or wildlife lawfully killed, if such parts are disposed of by the original owner within 90 days after the close of the season in which the game or wildlife was taken.
(v) The sale of mounted specimens by any auctioneer licensed by the Commonwealth. The commission shall require no permit for such action. Any licensed auctioneer who sells ten or more mounted specimens during any one sale at a registered auction house must report those sales to the commission within 15 days of the completion of the sale.
(2) The commission may by regulation authorize the buying and selling of inedible parts of game and wildlife as it deems appropriate.
(3) This subsection shall not be construed to permit any individual or agency other than the commission to sell the skins or parts of game or wildlife killed as a protection to crops, or accidentally killed upon the highways, or seized as contraband.
(d) Penalty.--A violation of this section relating to:
(1) Threatened or endangered species shall be graded as follows:
(i) A first offense is a misdemeanor of the second degree and may result in forfeiture of the privilege to hunt or take game or wildlife anywhere within this Commonwealth for a period of seven years.
(ii) A second offense within a seven-year period or during the same criminal episode is a misdemeanor of the first degree and may result in forfeiture of the privilege to hunt or take game or wildlife anywhere within this Commonwealth for a period of ten years.
(iii) A third or subsequent violation of this section within a seven-year period or during the same criminal episode is a felony of the third degree and may result in forfeiture of the privilege to hunt or take wildlife anywhere within this Commonwealth for a period of 15 years.
(2) Big game animals shall be graded as follows:
(i) A first offense or a second offense during the same criminal episode is a misdemeanor and may result in forfeiture of the privilege to hunt or take game or wildlife anywhere within this Commonwealth for a period of five years.
(ii) A second offense within a seven-year period or a third or fourth offense during the same criminal episode is a misdemeanor of the first degree and may result in the forfeiture of the privilege to hunt or take game or wildlife anywhere within this Commonwealth for a period of ten years.
(iii) A fifth or subsequent offense during the same criminal episode or third offense within a seven-year period is a felony of the third degree and may result in forfeiture of the privilege to hunt or take game or wildlife anywhere within this Commonwealth for a period of 15 years.
(3) The selling and buying of venison up to 20 pounds and the buying and selling of other game or wildlife is a summary offense of the first degree and may result in the forfeiture of the privilege to hunt or take game or wildlife anywhere within this Commonwealth for a period of three years.
(Dec. 21, 1998, P.L.1274, No.166, eff. 60 days; July 9, 2008, P.L.920, No.65, eff. imd.; July 9, 2010, P.L.387, No.54, eff. 60 days)
2010 Amendment. Act 54 amended subsecs. (a) and (d). See section 6 of Act 54 in the appendix to this title for special provisions relating to public notice.
2008 Amendment. Act 65 amended subsec. (c)(1).