Cute, but not a pet. Photo via Shutterstock.

You’d think owning an elephant, rhino or chimpanzee in Virginia would be verboten, right? Well, a Virginia panel created up in the wake of a 2011 Ohio incident in which 56 exotic animals were released from a farm just wants to make sure that everyone is clear on what pets are cute and cuddly and what animals are dangerous and destructive.

The AP reports that Virginia’s 30-person Dangerous Animals Initiative has finalized a report in which it identifies close to 20 species that shouldn’t be kept by the commonwealth’s residents. Among the list are elephants, rhinos, Komodo dragons, baboons, cape buffaloes, gibbons, hippos, orangutans, chimpanzees, drills, mandrills, gelada baboons, and gorillas. Snakes, though, were not included:

“We focused on the big, obviously dangerous animals — one that escapes and is going to harm someone,” he said.

The list does not include venomous snakes and some other smaller non-human primates. Snake owners were especially vocal during previous meetings on limiting ownership of boas and other species of snakes.

“It’s become quite a lucrative trade and breeding business,” Laura Donahue, director of Virginia Humane Society and a member of the working group, said of the snake interests who spoke out against ownership restrictions.

The panel’s report, which still has to be approved by the Gov. Bob McDonnell and the General Assembly, would still allow licensed exhibitors to keep and show some of the animals on the list. And while some local and federal laws already touch upon ownership of some of the species, the panel said that it just wanted to be absolutely clear about what’s OK and what’s not.

D.C. regulations are generally pretty clear, and anything that you think you shouldn’t own is probably against the law anyhow. That being said, D.C. regulations still allow residents to walk around town with horned cattle or cows, provided that it’s between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.