Savannah cats are legal in most of Canada, but it depends how “wild” they are. Most provinces have restrictions based on the Filial System.
It’s generally illegal to own a wild African Serval cat. Savannah cats are hybrids of serval cats and house cats. Your Savannah Cat needs to be multiple generations removed from the wild.
The Filial system is a scale that starts with ”F”(filial), followed by a number indicating generations. For example: F1 means the cat is 1 generation removed from wild, and is %50 wild.
Are Savannah cats legal in Alberta?
The answer is yes, it is legal to own a Savannah cat in Alberta.
However, it must be an F4 or higher, and registered with The International Cat Association (TICA). No permit is required.
Savannah cats (hybrid of a house cat and a serval cat), Bengal cats (hybrid of a house cat and an Asian leopard) and ocicats (hybrid of a house cat and an ocelot) are considered to be domestic cats, provided they are registered with The International Cat Association (TICA) as being an F4 generation or greater (such as an F5 or F6). A permit is not required to own one of these registered F4 or greater cats.
Source
See our list of other exotic pets that you can own as a pet in Alberta called What Exotic Pets Can You Legally Own in Alberta?
In Summary
- Savannah cats are hybrids of house cats and African Servals.
- Servals are controlled wildlife and therefore they are illegal to own.
- Savannah cats can be legal to own as pets if they are bred several generations from the wild.
- F1, F2, and F3 are illegal. Anything F4 and higher are perfectly legal.
- You can register with The International Cat Association (TICA) to prove the cat is at least an F4. You do not need a permit.
