New Zealand Legislation: Acts

9 Ownership of wild animals

• (1) All wild animals shall be the property of the Crown:

  provided that where any wild animal has been lawfully taken or killed or is lawfully held pursuant to this Act, it shall cease to be the property of the Crown, and the animal shall be deemed to be the property of the person by whom it was so taken or killed, or by whom it is held:

  provided also that nothing in this subsection shall have effect so as to impose any obligation or liability on the Crown in respect of damage done by any wild animal.

  (2) The presence of any wild animal on any land confers no right of ownership of the wild animal or its carcass on the owner or occupier of the land unless and until the animal is—

  • (a) captured, held, or conveyed under a valid permit issued by the Director-General; or

  • (b) killed by a person who hunts or kills a wild animal on the land with the consent of the owner or occupier; or

  • (c) hunted or killed by the owner or occupier by lawful means; or

  • (d) identified in accordance with an identification system—

    • (i) registered under section 3 of the Animal Identification Act 1993; or

    • (ii) approved under section 50 of the Biosecurity Act 1993 and approved by the Director-General for the purposes of this Act.

  (3) The taking or killing of any wild animal shall be deemed to be unlawful where any person takes or kills the animal—

  • (a) while he is on any land without the express authority of the owner or occupier or authority in control of the land, or in any case where, while recovering any animal or the carcass thereof, he lands on or enters upon any land without the express authority of the owner or occupier or authority in control of the land; or

  • (b) by any unlawful means while he is lawfully on any land; or

  • (c) in the course of any hunting if, during that hunting, he commits or has committed any offence against this Act, or against the Trespass Act 1980, the Civil Aviation Act 1990, or any other enactment directly related to the purposes of this Act or to the protection or administration of the land or of the flora or fauna of the land whereon the offence took place; or

  • (d) by discharging a firearm into or over or across any land without the authority of the owner or occupier or authority in control of the land.

  (4) Where the carcass of any wild animal, including any specified wild animal, of a kind which may be farmed under any Act is to be sold or delivered to a game depot or game packing house by the person who killed the animal or by his agent or employer, it shall be an offence against this Act to so sell or deliver that carcass, or for the licensee of the game depot or game packing house to receive that carcass, without the ears attached to the hide.

  Compare: 1956 No 6 s 9

  Section 9(2): substituted, on 7 May 1999, by section 3 of the Wild Animal Control Amendment Act 1999 (1999 No 52).

  Section 9(3)(c): amended, on 1 September 1990, pursuant to section 101(1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1990 (1990 No 98).

  Section 9(3)(c): amended, on 1 January 1981, pursuant to section 14 of the Trespass Act 1980 (1980 No 65).

  Section 9(4): substituted, on 19 October 1978, by section 2 of the Wild Animal Control Amendment Act 1978 (1978 No 135).

  Section 9(4): amended, on 12 October 1982, by section 4 of the Wild Animal Control Amendment Act 1982 (1982 No 26).