The Executive Yuan Council today approved a draft amendment to the Wildlife Conservation Act (WCA) whose major points are as follows:
1. In order to put an end to the disabling of wild animals by clamps (leghold traps), the use of this tool has been comprehensively banned. (Articles 19, 21 and 21-1)
2. Management of the release of live animals, unless otherwise stipulated by other laws and regulations, shall be based on the WCA; moreover, the central competent agency is authorized to set related measures and define conditions for penalties. (Articles 32 and 46)
3. Violations of the WCA, whether due to criminal intent or administrative error, imperil wildlife conservation. Not only will violators be punished; the tools, devices or equipment they employed shall be confiscated as well—regardless of their legal owner—in order to deter such acts from being committed again. (Article 52)
The draft will be sent to the Legislature for deliberation.
While Article 19, Paragraph 1 of the WCA already stipulates that no "traps, snares or other hunting equipment" may be used for hunting, Articles 21 and 21-1 specify that "wildlife may be hunted or killed for traditional cultural or ritual hunting, killing or utilization needs of Taiwan aborigines" regardless of this and other restrictions, the Council of Agriculture (COA) stated.
Nevertheless, recent years have seen reports of improper use of clamps (leghold traps) leaving protected wild animals physically disabled, severely harming Taiwan's image in wildlife conservation. A total ban on the use of these traps is thus necessary to completely prevent such cases, the COA pointed out.
With respect to the second aspect of the amendment, the COA noted that contemporary practices of releasing live animals into the wild have tended to be large-scale and commercialized, with most of the animals bought from livestock farmers or animal vendors. Aside from the probability of such actions leading to mass deaths due to these animals' inability to adapt to a new environment, however, they also raise the chances of damage to the ecosystem and proliferation of diseases, adversely affecting the nation's efforts in wildlife protection.
However, current law does not have any specific regulations concerning release of animals into the wild nor of the people conducting such activities, and these need to be properly regulated, the COA stated. In addition, the fines stipulated in the WCA are monetary obligations, and those failing to comply shall be dealt with according to the Administrative Execution Act. It is therefore necessary to amend certain provisions of the WCA, officials said.