Prohibited activities; exceptions; applicability; penalties.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), it shall be unlawful for any individual, corporation, partnership, trust, association, or any other entity to do any of the following:

(1) Hunt, wound, injure, kill, trap, collect, or capture a black bear, or to attempt to engage in that conduct during the closed season for black bear.

(2) Sell, offer for sale, purchase, offer to purchase, deliver, transport, carry, or ship, in intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce a black bear, whether alive or dead, or any of its parts or products, or to attempt to engage in that conduct. Nothing in this article shall prohibit legal possession of black bear taken legally in other states.

(b) The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources shall permit, under reasonable terms and conditions as it may prescribe, any act otherwise prohibited by subsection (a) for any of the following purposes:

(1) Scientific or survival research.

(2) Zoological exhibition.

(3) Education.

(4) Any other purposes as may be determined by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

(c) The prohibitions of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) shall not apply to activities where killing or injuring a black bear is incidental to, and not the purpose of, activities which are otherwise lawful.

(d) Any individual, corporation, partnership, trust, association, or other entity who violates this section shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, punishable as follows:

(1) For the first offense, by a fine of not less than two thousand dollars ($2,000) and not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.

(2) For the second and any subsequent offense, by a fine of not less than three thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500) and not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisonment for not less than six months or more than one year, or both.

(3) Any individual shall have all hunting and fishing license privileges revoked for a period of three years from the date of conviction.

(4) Any motor vehicle, weapons, or other property, which has been or is used in any activity prohibited by this section may be confiscated under the same procedures set forth in Section 9-11-252.1.

(Act 2001-634, p. 1223, §2.)