This Act may be cited as the Animals Protection Amendment Act, 1910, and shall form part of and be read together with the Animals Protection Act, 1908 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act).

Section six of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection two the words “which has a greater depth than two feet six inches and is not open at both ends.”

Section twenty-six of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding, after the words “native game” where they first occur, the words “(other than godwits).”

Section thirty of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding to subsection one the words—

Nothing in the said section thirty or this section shall be deemed to affect the right of Natives to hold preserved game known as huahua.

Section thirty-two of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after the word “take” in subsection one, the words “any native game or”; and by adding to the same subsection the words “or for any scientific purpose.”

Notwithstanding anything in the principal Act, the Minister may from time to time, on the application in writing of any person, authorize the introduction into New Zealand of such animals as the Minister thinks fit, for the purpose of exhibition only, whether in a zoological garden or a travelling menagerie.

Such authority may be given subject to such conditions as the Minister in each case thinks fit to impose, and shall not be given unless the Minister is satisfied that the arrangements made by the applicant for the safe custody and care of any animal proposed to be introduced as aforesaid are sufficient for the protection of the public, nor unless the applicant enters into a bond or other security in an amount sufficient in the opinion of the Minister to indemnify any person against any loss or damage he may sustain by reason of the introduction into New Zealand of the animals specified in the application, or any of them, or of the escape from custody of any such animal.

The provisions of sections thirty-nine to forty-two of the principal Act shall not apply in the case of any animal introduced into New Zealand under this section so long as the conditions (if any) subject to which the authority was given are faithfully observed.

Notwithstanding anything in any Act, it shall be lawful for any person to destroy hares, weasels, or stoats: Provided that the Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister of Agriculture, suspend within any specified area the operation of this section with respect to hares, weasels, and stoats.

Section thirty-one of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after the words “native game,” wherever they occur, the words “or the skin or feathers of any native game.”

Section forty of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting the word “scorpion,” and inserting, after the word “reptile,” the words “scorpion or insect.”

Every person who destroys, or injures, or captures any bird which is indigenous to New Zealand, or who robs or destroys the nest of any such bird, is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds:

Provided that the Governor may from time to time, by Order in Council, suspend the operation of this section with respect to any specified species of bird for such period in any year as he thinks fit.

The provisions of the principal Act relating to native game shall be read subject to this section and to any Order in Council made thereunder.

Section twenty of the principal Act is hereby repealed.