We’d like to congratulate the following animals—now prohibited in New York City!

Turtles and tortoises with a carapace length of less than four inches; nutria; pigs, including pot bellied pigs, goats and cattle; predatory marine and freshwater animals and fishes including, but not limited to, sharks and piranhas.

Per article 161 of the health code, here are the animals it is not legal to sell or give to another person, possess, harbor or keep:

All dogs other than domesticated dogs (Canis familiaris), including, but not limited to, wolf, fox, coyote, hyaena, dingo, jackal, dhole, fennec, raccoon dog, zorro, bush dog, aardwolf, cape hunting dog and any hybrid or cross-breed offspring of a wild dog and domesticated dog.

All cats other than domesticated cats (Felis catus), including, but not limited to, lion, tiger, leopard, ocelot, jaguar, puma, panther, mountain lion, cheetah, wild cat, cougar, bobcat, lynx, serval, caracal, jaguarundi, margay and any hybrid or cross-breed offspring of a wild cat and domesticated or other cat.

All bears, including polar, grizzly, brown and black bear.

All fur bearing mammals of the family Mustelidae, including, but not limited to, weasel, marten, mink, badger, ermine, skunk, otter, pole cat, zorille, wolverine, stoat and ferret.

All Procyonidae: All raccoon (eastern, desert, ring-tailed cat), kinkajou, cacomistle, cat-bear, panda and coatimundi.

All carnivorous mammals of the family Viverridae, including, but not limited to, civet, mongoose, genet, binturong, fossa, linsang and suricate.

All bats (Chiroptera).

All non-human primates, including, but not limited to, monkey, ape, chimpanzee, gorilla and lemur.

All squirrels (Sciuridae).

Reptiles (Reptilia). All Helodermatidae (gila monster and Mexican beaded lizard); all front- fanged venomous snakes, even if devenomized, including, but not limited to, all Viperidae (viper, pit viper), all Elapidae (cobra, mamba, krait, coral snake), all Atractaspididae (African burrowing asp), all Hydrophiidae (sea snake), all Laticaudidae (sea krait); all venomous, mid-or rear-fanged, Duvernoy-glanded members of the family Colubridae, even if devenomized; any member, or hybrid offspring of the family Boidae, including, but not limited to, the common or green anaconda and yellow anaconda; any member of the family Pythonidae, including, but not limited to, the African rock python, Indian or Burmese python, Amethystine or scrub python; any member of the family Varanidae, including the white throated monitor, Bosc’s or African savannah monitor, Komodo monitor or dragon, Nile monitor, crocodile monitor, water monitor, Bornean earless monitor; any member of the family Iguanidae, including the green or common iguana; any member of the family teiidae, including, but not limited to, the golden, common, or black and white tegu; all members of the family Chelydridae, including snapping turtle and alligator snapping turtle; all turtles and tortoises with a carapace length of less than four (4) inches; and all members of the order Crocodylia, including, but not limited to, alligator, caiman and crocodile.

Birds and Fowl (Aves): All predatory or large birds, including, but not limited to, eagle, hawk, falcon, owl, vulture, condor, emu, rhea and ostrich; roosters, geese, ducks and turkeys.

All venomous insects, including, but not limited to, bees other than non-aggressive honey bees (Apis mellifera), hornet and wasp.

Arachnida and Chilopoda: All venomous spiders, including, but not limited to, tarantula, black widow and solifugid; scorpion; all venomous arthropods including, but not limited to, centipede.

All large rodents (Rodentia), including, but not limited to, gopher, muskrat, nutria, paca, woodchuck, marmot, beaver, prairie dog, capybara, sewellel, viscacha, porcupine and hutia.

All even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla) including, but not limited to, deer, antelope, sheep, pigs, including pot bellied pigs, goats, cattle, giraffe and hippopotamus.

All odd-toed ungulates (Perissodactyla) other than domesticated horses (Equus caballus), including, but not limited to, zebra, rhinoceros and tapir.

All marsupials, including, but not limited to, Tasmanian devil, dasyure, bandicoot, kangaroo, wallaby, opossum, wombat, koala bear, cuscus, numbat and pigmy, sugar and greater glider.

Sea mammals (Cetacea, Pinnipedia and Sirenia), including, but not limited to, dolphin, whale, seal, sea lion and walrus, and any other predatory marine and freshwater animals and fishes including, but not limited to, sharks and piranhas.

All elephants (Proboscides).

All hyrax (Hydracoidea).

All pangolin (Pholidota).

All sloth and armadillo (Edentata).

Insectivorous mammals (Insectivora): All aardvark (Tubildentata), anteater, shrew, otter shrew, gymnure, desman, tenrec, mole and hedge hog.

Gliding lemur (Dermoptera).

Time Magazine’s 60 year-old review of Willy Ley’s The Lungfish, the Dodo, and the Unicorn; an Excursion into Romantic Zoology.

Evil Kraken. Another mythical beast, says Ley, has really come to life: the kraken, a gigantic octopus that flourished in the imagination of medieval Scandinavians. Evidence has been accumulating, he says, to prove that there are several species of giant squid or octopus which come to the surface only rarely. Ley thinks that Scylla, of the Odyssey, must have been a kraken, with her six toothy necks reaching out of a sea cave. So was Medusa, with her “snakes” (octopus arms) writhing around her face.

Ah yes, how far science has come:

Modern scientists know, Ley points out, that the horn buds of a calf can be transplanted to the middle of its forehead, where they develop together into a “unicorn” (single horn). The bull with such a horn becomes the leader of the herd. Confident of his strength and position, he can afford to be as gentle as a unicorn.

Note that this book is an expansion on an earlier work, with a title sans “Dodo”, but “became a war casualty when published in 1941.”

Sadly, The Lungfish, the Dodo, and the Unicorn seems to be out of print.