New Zealand Legislation: Acts

8 Hunting or killing of wild animals

• (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and any other Act, any wild animal may be hunted or killed or had in possession by any person in any part of New Zealand.

  (2) Except as provided in section 16 of this Act, and section 56 of the Agricultural Pests Destruction Act 1967, nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall authorise any person to hunt or kill or have in his possession any wild animal on any land, or discharge a firearm into or over or across any land, without the express authority of the owner or occupier of that land. Every person commits an offence against this Act who hunts or kills or has in his possession any wild animal on any land, or discharges a firearm into or over or across any land, without the express authority of the owner or occupier of that land.

  (3) Where the Minister considers that hunting by other persons is likely to interfere with any wild animal control operations, studies, investigations, or research carried out by the Department or any other person or body with his authority, he may, by public notification, declare that any specified species of wild animal may not be hunted or killed or held in possession in such area and during such period as are specified in the notification.

  (4) The Minister may also, by public notice, from time to time advise that, so far as hunting is concerned, specified areas are to be used for recreational, or guided, or commercial hunting, or wild animal recovery operations, as the case may be, or for any combination or all or some of these hunting purposes:

  Provided that the Minister shall, following prior consultation with the person or authority in charge of any land other than administered by the Department of Conservation under the Conservation Act 1987 or any other enactment, at all times retain the right, by public notice, to do all or any of the following things:

  • (a) To vary or revoke his previous public notification as to the area of land concerned, or the hunting purposes for which the specified hunting area may be used, or the periods or times during which the area may be hunted:

  • (b) To direct that wild animal control operations shall be under the direction of the Department:

  • (c) To specify conditions as to the rights of any person to enter, remain on, or use the specified hunting area:

  • (d) To specify conditions as to the hunting, killing, or capturing of any species of wild animal:

  • (e) To specify conditions as to the information that must be provided regarding wild animals hunted or killed or had in possession during, or at the conclusion of, any period or time spent in the specified hunting area:

  • (f) To prescribe such fees or charges as he may consider appropriate for the sale or supply of plans and other printed information, services, and facilities.

  (5) Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this section the Minister shall at all times retain the right, after giving prior notification to the land controlling authority, to enter onto any land in any specified hunting area with such assistants as he thinks fit to survey the condition and trend of vegetation or wild animal communities and to do such other things as he thinks necessary.

  (6) No person shall, in any specified hunting area and during any period specified in any notification under subsection (3) of this section, hunt or kill or have in his possession any wild animal to which the notification refers.

  Compare: 1956 No 6 s 3

  Subsection (2) was amended, as from 14 December 1979, by section 3(a) and (b) Wild Animal Control Amendment Act 1979 (1979 No 146) by inserting the words “, or discharge a firearm into or over or across any land,” and “, or discharges a firearm into or over or across any land,”.

  The word “Department” was substituted, as from 1 April 1987, for the words “Forest Service”, pursuant to section 65(1) Conservation Act 1987 (1987 No 65). See also section 2(2) Forests Act 1949 (1949 No 19) as to an earlier amendment of this term.

  Subsection (4) was amended, as from 1 October 1999, by section 5 Wild Animal Control Amendment Act 1997 (1997 No 80) by inserting, after the word “recovery”, the word “operations”.

  The proviso to subsection (4) was amended, as from 1 April 1987, by section 11(1) State-Owned Enterprises Amendment Act 1987 (1987 No 117) by substituting the words “administered by the Department of Conservation under the Conservation Act 1987 or any other enactment” for the words “State forest land”.