The Executive Yuan yesterday approved draft amendments to the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法), completely banning animal traps and stating that owners would pay for costs incurred while capturing animals that have escaped.
The proposed changes were made following the killing of a baboon during an attempt to capture it following its escape from Leofoo Village Theme Park in March last year.
Amendments would be made to Article 31 and an article 50-1 would be added.
Photo: Huang Mei-chu, Taipei Times
“The amendments take into consideration that efforts to recapture escaped animals could incur extra costs for the state and members of society,” the Ministry of Agriculture said.
They also make clear that the owners are obliged to inform authorities that their animal has escaped, the ministry said.
Failure to report or to recapture runaway animals would lead to heavier fines, as this could “lead to public fear and unrest, as well as inadvertently affect the lives and property of others,” the draft amendments say.
Regulations already prohibit the manufacture, sale and use of animal traps, so the amendments only make the trap ban official, the ministry said.
Moreover, the proposed amendments would also relax regulations on indigenous hunting and create some flexibility, the ministry added.
This could set the foundation for allowing indigenous people to submit non-profit hunting documentation after, instead of in advance, if there are unanticipated events such as births or deaths, it said.
A clause stating that unapproved hunting of conserved species is an offense that can be fined up to NT$100,000 was also added, closing a previous loophole in which non-approved indigenous hunting of common animals was a finable offense, but no regulations were in place for conserved species, the draft amendments say.
In 2013, Bunun man Tama Talum was accused of contravening the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例) and the Wildlife Conservation Act for using a modified rifle to kill protected animals.
The Council of Grand Justices in 2021 issued Constitutional Interpretation No. 803, stating that some restrictions on indigenous people were unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court dismissed his three-year, six-month sentence.
Additional reporting by CNA
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