Protection of species of wild animals
The legislation in the United Kingdom prohibits the killing,
injuring, taking or selling of those wild animals listed on the
appropriate Schedule. This legislation applies to land (including
land covered by water) and to territorial waters. It is also an
offence to damage, destroy or obstruct access to any place which
such an animal uses for shelter, protection or breeding, except
within a dwelling-house. In the case of bats this offence extends
to dwelling houses, other than the living areas, and the advice of
the appropriate statutory nature conservation agency should be
sought prior to any such damage or obstruction, and the advice
followed. In Great Britain, it is also an offence to intentionally
or recklessly disturb a dolphin, whale (cetacean) or basking
shark.
It is not an offence to take a disabled protected animal for
the purpose of tending it and returning it to the wild or to kill
such an animal if there is no reasonable chance of recovery. It is
a defence to show that an act was the result of an otherwise lawful
action and could not reasonably have been avoided, except in
relation to bats where, other than in the living area of a dwelling
house, the advice of the appropriate statutory nature conservation
agency needs to be sought.
Certain methods of killing or taking wild animals are
prohibited. In Great Britain, it is an offence to use any
self-locking snare, bow, crossbow, explosives or decoys for the
purpose of causing bodily harm, killing or taking any wild animal.
A person who sets a snare of a type which is otherwise legal but
calculated to cause bodily injury to any wild animal coming into
contact with it, must ensure that the snare is inspected at least
once a day. In Scotland, it is also an offence to sell a
self-locking snare, or to possess one without reasonable
excuse.
It is also an offence to use any trap, snare, net, electrical
device, poisoned or stupefying substance to intentionally harm,
kill or take any wild animal listed under the appropriate Schedule,
and it is prohibited for a person to kill or take any such animal
listed using automatic or semi-automatic weapons, smoke, gas,
artificial lights, mirrors, sound recordings or decoys, any
mechanically propelled vehicles in immediate pursuit of a protected
wild animal for the purpose of driving, killing or taking the
animal.
Certain methods of killing, harming or taking of wild animals,
which are prohibited in Great Britain, are also prohibited in
Northern Ireland. Not only is the use of self-locking snares
prohibited, their sale is also prohibited if the person knows it is
for an unlawful act. Additions to the prohibited methods of
killing, harming or taking animals in Northern Ireland are the use
of any springe, gin, hook and line, metal bar, axe, hatchet,
cudgel, hammer or muscle-relaxing agent.
In the United Kingdom, acts which are prohibited under the
legislation can be authorised by a licence issued by the
appropriate authority for the purpose of science, education,
conservation and photography, or to preserve public health or
safety, to prevent the spread of disease or to prevent serious
damage to livestock, crops, growing timber, property or
fisheries
In Great Britain, the appropriate Minister can add species of
wild animals to and remove animals from the Schedules where the
Secretary of State considers it is appropriate to do so. The Joint
Nature Conservation Committee is required to advise the Secretary
of State, every five years, whether any species of wild animals in
Great Britain should be added to, or removed from the Schedule. In
Northern Ireland the power to add or remove any species of animals
to or from the relevant Schedule lies with the Department of the
Environment, who must consult the Council for Nature Conservation
and the Countryside before changes can be made.
In the United Kingdom, wild animals are also protected by
European legislation, and there are additional species of animals
which may not be taken or killed using certain methods, which are
listed on the appropriate Schedule. Some of the species are similar
to those which are protected by the UK legislation. However
additional protection is provided for the Mountain Hare and several
species of fish and seals.
The appropriate authority responsible for the granting of
licenses in Great Britain, for the purpose of scientific,
educational or conservation, for ringing or marking, the protection
of zoological or botanical collections, or for photography is the
appropriate statutory nature conservation agency, (Natural England
(formally Natural England) in England, Scottish Natural Heritage in
Scotland and the Countryside Council for Wales in Wales). The
appropriate Minister is the responsible authority for licences
relating to the sale of protected wild animals. The authority
responsible for issuing licences to prevent serious damage to
livestock, crops, growing timber or other property, or to
fisheries, is the agriculture Minister. In Northern Ireland, the
Department of Environment and the Environment and Heritage Service
are responsible for the granting of all licences, in relation to
wild animals.
Certain species of wild mammals are protected under their own
legal provisions, including badgers, deer and seals. There is also
a prohibition on whaling in all UK waters.
The legislative provisions in Great Britain for the protection
of wild animals are contained primarily in the Wildlife and
Countryside Act, 1981, Sections 9-12, the wild animals which are
protected are listed in Schedules 5-7 of the Act and the provisions
for the granting of licenses and enforcement are set out in
Sections 16-27. In England and Wales, enforcement provisions were
extended and some amendments for protection made by the Countryside
Rights of Access Act 2000 Section 81 and Schedule 12. In Scotland,
enforcement provisions were extended and some amendments for
protection made by Section 50 and Schedule 6 of the Nature
Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004. Specific legislation for
protecting badgers is provided by the Badgers Act, 1992 (amended,
for Scotland, by the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004), for
wild deer in the Deer Act, 1963 (amended by the Deer Act, 1991),
and for seals in the Conservation of Seals Act 1970. The close
season for seals in (some areas of) Scotland was extended by the
Conservation of Seals (Scotland) Order 2002. In Northern Ireland,
the legal provisions are set out in the Wildlife (Northern Ireland)
Order, 1985 (amended 1995), Articles 10-13 and 16-29, and the
protected wild animals are listed on Schedules 5-7. The protection
of European animal species in Great Britain is covered by the
Conservation (Natural Habitats, & c.) Regulations, 1994, Part
II, Regulations 38-41 and Schedules 2-3 and in Northern Ireland
provisions for European species are laid down in the Conservation
(Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations (NI) 1995, Part II,
Regulations 33-36 and Schedules 2-3. Whaling in UK waters is
prohibited by the Whaling Industry (Regulations) Act 1934, as
amended by the Fishing Limits Act, 1981.