CHAPTER
249
WILD BIRDS PROTECTION |
ARRANGEMENT OF
SECTIONS |
SECTION |
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Appointment of game wardens. |
Killing or capturing certain wild birds during
the close season punishable. |
Reserves for the protection of wild birds. |
Exposing for sale, having in possession or
exporting any wild bird, etc., punishable in certain cases. |
Limit on number of wild birds killed or in
possession. |
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Power of police to enter premises, etc. |
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Licence may be granted for scientific purposes. |
Minister may exempt any portion of The Bahamas. |
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SCHEDULE. |
CHAPTER 249 |
WILD BIRDS
PROTECTION |
An Act to
make provision for the protection of wild birds. | 52 of 1952
56 of 1954
G.N. 13/1960
S.I 26/1966
12 of 1972
E.L.A.O., 1974
5 of 1987
S.I. 29/1994
S.I. 57/1994 |
[Commencement 11th
August, 1952] |
1. This Act may be cited as the Wild Birds Protection
Act. | Short title. |
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires- | Interpretation. |
"game
warden" means any person appointed by the Minister in accordance with
section 3; |
"immature
bird" means any wild bird not yet able to fly; |
"Minister"
means the Minister responsible for Wild Animals and Birds Protection; |
"open
season" means any period of the year other than the close season assigned
to any wild bird in the Schedule to this Act; |
"wild
bird" means any bird enumerated in the Schedule to this Act. |
3. (1) The Minister may, by instrument in writing,
appoint any person to be a game warden for the purposes of this Act. | Appointment of game wardens. |
(2) Every game
warden appointed under subsection (1) shall have such powers and perform such
duties as are assigned to him under this Act. |
4. (1) Any person who during the close season
respectively assigned to any wild bird by the Schedule to this Act- | Killing or capturing certain wild birds during the
close season punishable. |
(a) kills or
captures or attempts to kill or capture any such wild bird; |
(b) uses or has
in his possession any firearm or other weapon or any line, trap, snare, net or
other instrument for the purpose of capturing any such wild birds; |
(c) takes from
any nest or place of deposit the eggs of any such wild bird, |
shall be
guilty of an offence against this Act. |
(2)
Any person who from any boat, vessel, vehicle or aircraft in, on or over any
water kills or captures the White Crowned Pigeon (Columba leucocephala),
whether during the close or the open season, shall be guilty of an offence
against this Act. |
5. (1) It shall be lawful for the Minister to establish
reserves for the protection of any wild bird and from time to time to vary,
enlarge or reduce the extent of such reserves. | Reserves for the protection of wild birds. |
(2) Such reserves
may comprise any land belonging to the Crown or to any private owner. |
(3) Any person who
enters upon any such reserve with intent to kill or capture any wild bird shall
be guilty of an offence against this Act. |
6. (1) Any person who shall expose or offer for sale
any wild bird or the eggs, skin or feathers of any wild bird shall be guilty of
an offence against this Act. | Exposing for sale, having in possession or exporting
any wild bird, etc., punishable in certain cases. |
(2) Any person who
during the close season respectively assigned to any wild bird by the Schedule
to this Act, where such close season comprises the whole year, shall have in
his possession or control any such wild bird or the eggs, skin or feathers of
any such wild bird shall be guilty of an offence against this Act. |
(3) Any person who
during the close season respectively assigned to any wild bird by the Schedule
to this Act, where such close season does not comprise the whole year, shall
have in his possession or control any such wild bird, shall be guilty of an
offence against this Act unless he proves that such wild bird was killed or
captured during the open season in respect of such wild bird. |
(4) Any person who
at any time shall have in his possession or control or who shall expose or
offer for sale any immature bird shall be guilty of an offence against this
Act. |
(5) Any person who
at any time shall have in his possession or control the eggs of any wild bird
in respect of which there is an open season shall be guilty of an offence
against this Act. |
(6) Any person who
shall export or attempt to export any wild bird or the eggs, skin or feathers
of any such wild bird shall be guilty of an offence against this Act. |
(7) Any person other than- |
(a) a citizen
of The Bahamas; or |
(b) a permanent
resident of The Bahamas within the meaning of that expression in the Immigration Act; or |
(c) a person
holding a valid permit granted to him under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of
section 29 of the said Act |
who shall
capture or kill, or have in his possession or control, any wild bird, or the
eggs, skin or feathers of any wild bird, when he shall not have been resident
in The Bahamas for a period of ninety days immediately preceding such capture,
killing or taking into possession or control, shall be guilty of an offence
against this Act. |
7. (1) During the open season no person shall kill or
capture more than the prescribed number of wild birds in any one day. | Limit on number of wild birds killed or in possession. |
(2) Any person who
has in his possession more than the prescribed number of wild birds at any time
shall be guilty of an offence against this Act. |
(3) During the
open season any person who has in his possession at any one time more wild
birds than the maximum number prescribed for the purposes of subsection (1) of
this section but fewer than that prescribed for the purposes of subsection (2)
thereof, shall be guilty of an offence against this Act unless he proves that
he has been actively engaged in killing or capturing such wild birds for a
sufficient number of days during the open season so as to account for the
number then in his possession. |
(4)
The Governor-General may make regulations prescribing the maximum numbers of
birds for the purposes of subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section; and in
the said subsections the word "prescribed" means prescribed by
regulations made under this subsection: |
Provided that
until the first such regulations are made the provisions of this section as in
force immediately before the thirty-first day of August, 1972, shall
continue in force as if the Wild Birds Protection (Amendment) Act, 1972 had not
been passed. |
8. (1) It shall be an offence against this Act for any
person during the open season to kill or capture or to attempt to kill or
capture any bird for the time being listed as a wild bird in the
Schedule to this Act except in accordance with the terms of a valid licence, in
this section referred to as a "hunting licence", granted to him in
pursuance of regulations made under this section. | Hunting licences. |
(2)
The Minister may by regulations made under this section provide for the grant
of hunting licences and the charging of fees therefor; and any such regulations
may make such different provision for different categories of wild birds, for
different categories of persons and for different parts of The Bahamas as the
Minister may think fit. |
(3) In subsection
(1) of this section the expression "appointed day" means the day
appointed in any regulations made under this section as the appointed day for
those regulations. |
9. (1) Any person guilty of an offence against this Act
shall be liable upon summary conviction to a fine of five
hundred dollars or to one month's imprisonment or to both such fine and
imprisonment and any wild bird or any egg, skin or feather thereof in respect
of which the offence was committed, together with any weapon, ammunition,
engine, net, trap or other device used or carried for the purpose of committing
such offence, and any vehicle, boat, vessel, aircraft or other means of
conveyance used for the purpose of committing such offence and all equipment,
stores, provisions or other effects in, upon or about such vehicle, boat,
vessel, aircraft or other means of conveyance shall be forfeited: | Penalties. |
Provided always
that such vehicle, boat, vessel, aircraft or other means of conveyance shall
not be forfeited if the owner, agent or person in charge thereof can prove that
he has not been guilty of an offence against this Act and that he notified the
police or other proper authorities of the offence against this Act in respect
of which the said vehicle, boat, vessel, aircraft or other means of conveyance
would otherwise have been forfeited as soon as was reasonably possible after
the commission of such offence. |
(2) Any articles
forfeited under the provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall be sold
at public auction and the proceeds thereof shall be paid into the Consolidated
Fund. |
(3) A reward of
five hundred dollars or one-half of the proceeds of the sale of forfeited
articles, whichever is the greater, shall be paid to the person or persons who
shall give information leading to the conviction of the offender or offenders. |
10. Any peace officer authorised by the Commissioner
of Police or any game warden may enter and search all premises of and all
vehicles, boats, vessels, aircraft, and other means of conveyance used by all
persons suspected of committing offences against this Act for the purpose of
preventing or detecting the violation of any of the provisions of this Act, and
may remain on such premises or in such vehicle, boat, vessel, aircraft, or
other means of conveyance for so long as is necessary for the carrying out of
his duty. | Power of police to enter premises, etc. |
11. (1) It shall be lawful for the Minister by Order
to add to or to otherwise vary the list of wild birds enumerated in the
Schedule to this Act. | Power to vary Schedule. |
(2)
It shall be lawful for the Minister by Order to alter, extend, limit or
otherwise vary the close season respectively assigned to any wild bird by the
Schedule to this Act. |
12. Notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained it
shall be lawful for the Minister to grant to any person, for scientific or
other special purposes, including the stocking of any wild bird reserve or
sanctuary within The Bahamas, a licence to kill or capture by any means
whatever at any time during the year any wild bird or to take the eggs of any
wild bird and to ship or transport the same from one Part of The Bahamas to
another, or to export the same, in such numbers and quantities and on such
terms and conditions as he shall define in such licence. | Licence may be granted for scientific purposes. |
13. It shall be lawful for the Minister by Order to
exempt any portion of The Bahamas from the operation of this Act. | Minister may exempt any portion of The Bahamas. |
14. All expenses incurred in enforcing and carrying
out the provisions and objects of this Act shall be payable out of the
Consolidated Fund by warrant in the usual manner. | Expenses. |
SCHEDULE (Sections 2, 4, 6, 8 and 11) |
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NAME OF BIRDS
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DURATION OF CLOSE SEASON
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1.
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All wild birds other than those enumerated in items 2 and 3
of this Schedule.
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The whole year
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2.
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White Crowned Pigeon (Columba Leucocephala),
Zenaida or Wood Dove (Zenaida aurita), Ringnecked Pheasant (Phasianus
colchicus), Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris).
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1st March to 28th September
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3.
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Bob White Quail (Colinus virginianus), Chuckar
Partridge (Alectorisgraeca), Wilson's or Jack Snipe (apella gallinago
delicata), Coot (Fulicia americana), all wild ducks and geese (Family
Anatidae) except Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna arborea), Bahama Duck (Anas
ahamensis), Ruddy Duck (Oxyrua jamaicensis).
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1st April to 28th September
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4.
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Eurasian-collared or "Ringnecked" Dove
(Streptopelia decoacta), Mourning or "Florida" Dove (Zenaidura
macroura).
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1st March to 14th September.
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