Wildlife (Amendment) Act, 2000

Amendment of section 22 (enforcement of protection of wild birds) of Principal Act.

30.—Section 22 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in subsection (5)—

(i) by the substitution, in paragraph (b), of “aquaculture, fishing, forestry or turbary” for “fishing or forestry”,

(ii) by the insertion, in paragraph (d), of “, or the orphaned and dependant young of such a bird,” after “protected wild bird” and by the deletion of the words “or with the intention of tending it and of later releasing it” after “humanely”,

(iii) by the insertion, in paragraph (e), of “and where the bird is so injured or disabled that there is no reasonable chance of its recovering,” after “paragraph (h) of this subsection”,

(iv) by the deletion of paragraph (f) (inserted by the Regulations of 1985),

(v) by the insertion, in paragraph (g), of “unless the nest contains the eggs or young of a protected wild bird” after “building”, and

(vi) by the substitution of “a licence or other permission granted or issued pursuant to the Wildlife Acts, 1976 and 2000, or which is duly done pursuant to any other statute” for “a statute (other than this Act)”,

(b) in subsection (9)—

(i) by the insertion, in paragraph (d), of “examine, inspect or” before “take”, and

(ii) by the insertion of the following after paragraph (d):

“(e) to take the eggs of a protected wild bird of a species specified in the licence for the purposes of having them hatched out for repopulation, or re-introduction to the wild or, for such purposes, to move such eggs from the nest of a bird so specified to that of another bird of the same species or for such other purposes as the Minister considers appropriate in the circumstances in respect of the species so specified,

(f) to take or make photographic, video or other pictures of a protected wild bird of a species specified in the licence on or near a nest containing eggs or unflown young,

(g) to have in possession, for a reasonable period of time—

(i) an injured or disabled wild bird, or

(ii) one or more than one dependant young of a wild bird which is orphaned,

with the intention of tending and later releasing such bird or young back into the wild when and only when such bird or young, as the case may be, is no longer injured, disabled or dependant,

(h) to retain possession of a wild bird, that for reasons of disability or for other reasons deemed reasonable by the Minister, would, if released, be unlikely to survive unaided in the wild.”,

and the said subsections (5) (other than paragraphs (a), (c) and (h) and (9) (other than paragraphs (a) to (c) and inserted paragraphs (e) to (h)), as so amended, are set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(5) It shall not be an offence for a person—

(b) while so engaged or engaged in agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, forestry or turbary unintentionally to injure or kill a protected wild bird, or

(d) to capture an injured or disabled protected wild bird or the orphaned and dependant young of such a bird for the purpose of killing it humanely, or

(e) to kill humanely a protected wild bird which has been injured in the manner described in paragraph (b), or captured in the manner described in paragraph (d) or injured in the circumstances described in paragraph (h) of this subsection and where the bird is so injured or disabled that there is no reasonable chance of its recovering, or

(g) to destroy or remove any such nest which is built in or on an occupied building unless the nest contains the eggs or young of a protected wild bird, or

and nothing in this section shall make unlawful anything which is duly done pursuant to a licence or other permission granted or issued pursuant to the Wildlife Acts, 1976 and 2000 or which is duly done pursuant to any other statute or statutory instrument, which is permitted to be done under such a statute or instrument or which is done pursuant to and in accordance with a licence or other permission granted or issued pursuant to such a statute or instrument or anything caused by or which results from, or is consequent upon or the effect of any other act or thing which is lawfully done.

(9) The Minister may grant a licence to a person—

(d) to examine, inspect or take the nests or eggs of protected wild birds of a species so specified for such educational, scientific or other purposes as shall be so specified.