Wild animal farming

You must submit a notification of your activities to the Finnish Food Authority if you keep wild mammals or birds or their offspring born in captivity

• for the purpose of producing meat or eggs of for breeding animals or
• for release back to the wild (game management farms).

Only the following species of wild mammals and birds may be farmed as production animals:

• fallow deer, mouflon and wild boar
• quail, guinea fowl, pheasant, mallard, grey partridge
• water buffalo, bison, ostrich, emu

However, wild boars may not be captured for farming.

Read more about game management farming on the website of the Finnish Wildlife Agency.Link to an external website

If you keep wild animals the farming of which was permitted under the Animal Welfare Act of 1996 but is no longer permitted under the new Animal Welfare Act that entered into force on 1 January 2024, you must notify the Finnish Food Authority of the matter.

Here is a checklist of what to do before you begin to farm wild animals for production or game management purposes:

1. Find out about the animal welfare requirements for keeping different species of animals. Contact your local authority veterinary officer if you have any questions. 
2. Keep an up-to-date list of the animals in your care. 
3. The notification must include the details of the farm keeper’s qualifications and how the animals will be kept.
4. In game management farming, you must also indicate the game management purposes referred to in section 3 of the Hunting Act for which the animals are kept.
5. Submit the notification to the register of animal keepers and establishments or with the online form for professional or large-scale animal keeping. You can find the necessary links at the bottom of this page. 

EUR 87 is charged for the processing of the notification.

You need to let the Finnish Food Authority know of any material changes in your operation.