Which countries still legalize bestiality as of 2026 and what are the exact legal provisions?
Executive summary
As of the reporting provided, definitive, up‑to‑date global accounting of which countries still legally permit sexual acts with animals is not available; older reporting shows most Western jurisdictions outlawed bestiality but lists of holdouts conflict across sources and appear dated (BBC 2015; Listverse) [1] [2]. U.S.-specific reporting in the provided material asserts that bestiality is illegal across all 50 states, a finding that directly contradicts some secondary commentary that names specific U.S. states as legal—this indicates inconsistent sourcing and the need for current statutory checks [3] [2].
1. What the best available sources say about Europe
A 2015 BBC report stated that after Denmark’s ban, Hungary, Finland and Romania remained the only EU countries where sex with animals was legal, citing the Danish parliamentary change and prison penalties created by that law [1]. That BBC story describes Denmark’s new penalties—up to one year in prison for a first offence and two years for repeat offenders—and records lawmakers’ concern about “animal sex tourism” influencing reform [1]. The BBC snapshot is useful historically but is now more than a half decade old and cannot by itself confirm the legal status of those named countries as of 2026 [1].
2. Conflicting secondary lists and the problem of dated compilations
At least one popular list (Listverse) names Hungary, Finland and Mexico, and several U.S. states as places where bestiality was or is “legal,” but it mixes examples and appears to draw on older or anecdotal reports rather than current statutory research [2]. Because Listverse is a longform list site rather than a legal‑research resource, its assertions must be treated as leads to be checked against primary law; the document provided does not supply such primary statutory citations [2].
3. United States: reported consensus that all 50 states criminalize bestiality
A compiled table in WorldPopulationReview, included in the reporting, states that bestiality is illegal in all 50 U.S. states and that statutes classify the offense variously as a misdemeanor or felony with penalties that vary by jurisdiction [3]. That source explicitly contradicts some other reports that list individual U.S. states as permissive; given the WorldPopulationReview claim and the patchwork of state reforms in recent years, the safest reading from the provided material is that U.S. states have broadly criminalized the conduct [3].
4. Global map resources exist but need verification
A public Wikipedia graphic mapping the legality of zoophilia by country exists and summarizes cross‑jurisdictional differences, but a map alone is a secondary visualization that requires checking against national penal codes for precision and currency; the reporting includes the file reference but not the underlying legal citations [4]. Visual summaries are useful for orientation but cannot substitute for recent country‑by‑country statutory review.
5. What “legal provisions” mean and why precise statutes matter
Legal provisions vary: some jurisdictions criminalize any sexual conduct with an animal; others prohibit causing harm, require proof of coercion or injury, or attach specific prison terms or fines—Denmark’s post‑ban penalties cited by the BBC are one example (up to one year, rising to two for repeat offences) [1]. The provided sources do not include the full texts of national penal codes for the countries mentioned, so precise statutory language, mens rea standards, and penalty tables for each nation named cannot be reproduced here from these reports [1] [3] [4] [2].
6. Bottom line and reporting limitations
Based solely on the supplied reporting, it is possible to say that most Western countries have moved to criminalize bestiality and that, historically, Hungary, Finland and Romania were identified as European outliers in a 2015 BBC account, while WorldPopulationReview reports universal criminalization across U.S. states; beyond that, conflicting secondary lists and a lack of up‑to‑date national statutes in the provided material prevent a definitive, precise 2026 list of countries that still legalize bestiality or a verbatim recitation of each country’s legal provisions [1] [3] [2] [4]. Independent verification against current national penal codes or authoritative legal databases is required to produce the exact, current statutory text and an authoritative, country‑by‑country inventory as of 2026.