Exhibiting animals and running visitor activities

If you operate a premises where animals are displayed to the public, you must apply for approval from the County Administrative Board. If you are going to exhibit wild animals, you will need additional permits. If you run a visitor activity with more than three visits per year, you must notify us.

Exhibiting animals in public

The public exhibition of animals means that animals are shown to the public for at least seven days per year.

In order to display animals publicly, you must first apply for approval from the County Administrative Board.

Examples of premises that may require approval:

• zoos
• educational farms
• tropical gardens
• enclosures that have tourist visits
• open-air museums with animals
• aviaries at garden centres
• urban parks with animals
• mini zoos
• ornamental fish displays / aquariums at restaurants or other public places (exception: you do not need approval if you have three or fewer aquariums and the volume of each tank is less than 1 000 litres).

Applying for approval to exhibit animals publicly

If you have, or are planning to start up, an establishment where animals are to be displayed to the public, you should start by reading specific parts of the Swedish Board of Agriculture’s regulations.

Read the first common chapter and the detailed chapters that refer to the animal species relevant to your establishment. A species register at the end will help you find the right chapters.

Regulations on animal husbandry in zoos, Swedish Board of Agriculture (in Swedish) External link.

The County Administrative Board will visit your establishment

Once the application is complete and you have paid the application fee, the County Administrative Board will visit you to see whether your premises meets the requirements for publicly displaying animals. If the establishment is approved, we will make a decision to that effect. The decision will apply until further notice.

Exhibiting wild animals

If you wish to exhibit wild animals, you must also apply for several types of permits:

• to exhibit the animals, you need a permit under the Species Protection Ordinance;
• to keep wild animals in an enclosure, you need a permit under the Hunting Ordinance;
• to construct a wildlife enclosure, you need a permit in under the Environmental Code.

Exhibiting wild animals under the Species Protection Ordinance

Permits under the Species Protection Ordinance apply to all wild animals, not only endangered species. We only grant permits for establishments that are also approved for publicly exhibiting under the Animal Welfare Ordinance.

In some cases, a permit under the Species Protection Ordinance is not required

• You do not need to apply for a permit to exhibit temporarily, for example at a fair. However, you must submit a notification to the County Administrative Board at least four weeks in advance.
• You do not need a permit if you exhibit no more than seven species (that are not mammals), with an appropriate number of specimens for each species, and exhibiting is not the main purpose of your activity.
• You do not need a permit to display aquariums if the exhibition comprises no more than three aquariums with fish and/or molluscs. The volume of each aquarium must be less than 1 000 litres.

Wild animals in enclosures

If you wish to establish a wildlife enclosure or keep wild animals in an enclosure, you must apply for a permit.

Game parks

Visitor activities with animals

If you have a visitor activity with three or more visits per year, you must notify the County Administrative Board of your visitor activity. A visitor activity means that the public has the opportunity to come into direct contact with the animals. Examples of visitor activities are riding schools, farms that receive school classes, and educational farms. This also includes therapy dogs and dogs used in healthcare. Sometimes, an activity must both the County Administrative Board of visitor activities and apply for a permit for public exhibition. You must also contact the County Administrative Board if the activity ceases or changes.

Hygiene requirements for operators of visitor activities

There are specific hygiene rules for operators of visitor facilities where people have the opportunity for direct contact with animals. Among other things, visitors must be able to wash and disinfect their hands in close proximity to the animals. There must also be information for visitors on how they can reduce the risk of spreading infection between animals and humans.

The rules for visitor activities apply if you have a facility with food-producing animals, horses or other types of animal husbandry. They also apply if you have care or therapy dogs.

The County Administrative Board checks that the hygiene rules are followed.