Protection of Animal Life in the Philippine Islands

October 12, 1907

 

ACT NO. 1798

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE PROTECTION OF ANIMAL LIFE IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

SECTION 1. It shall be unlawful for any person in the Philippine Islands to hunt, wound, take, or kill, or have in his or her possession, living or dead, or to purchase, offer, or expose for sale, transport, ship, or export, alive or dead:

(a) Any wild bird, other than a game bird. No part of the plumage, skin, or body of any such bird shall be sold or had in possession for sale: Provided, however, That the birds commonly known as eagles, hawks, owls, crows, galancian, and mayas shall not be included among the birds protected by this Act: And provided further, That nothing in this Act shall be interpreted to prohibit the keeping of any bird for a domestic pet;

(b) Any goose, duck, rail, coot, mudhen, gallinule, shore bird, plover, surf bird, snipe, woodcock, sandpiper, tatler, curlew, wild chicken, pheasant, quail, pigeon, dove, hornbill, mound builder, or brush turkey, or such other game birds as shall hereafter be added to this list, in case the Secretary of the Interior, as hereinafter provided, shall establish a close season for such birds or any of them;

(c) Any deer, musk deer, tamaraw, squirrel, or lemur, or such other mammal as shall hereafter be added to this list in case the Secretary of the Interior, as hereinafter provided, shall establish a close season for such mammals.

And it shall be unlawful for any person. to take or needlessly destroy the nest or eggs of any bird protected by this Act or to have such nest or eggs in his or her possession except as hereinafter provided.

SECTION 2. It shall be unlawful for any person to hunt, wound, take, or kill any of the birds or mammals protected by this Act in any other manner than by the use of a gun, spear, lance, or bow and arrow, and no person shall at any time lay or set trap, snare, net, bird lime, swivel gun, deer lick, pitfall, or any other contrivance or device whatever with intent to catch, take, or kill any of the birds or mammals protected by this Act, or make use of any artificial light, battery, or other deception or contrivance whatever with intent to attract or deceive any of the birds or mammals protected by this Act, except that decoys may be used in hunting game birds. The constructing or setting of a trap or snare adapted for taking or killing birds or mammals protected by this Act shall be prima facie evidence of such constructing and setting with intent to take or kill.

SECTION 3. The foregoing sections of this Act shall not apply to anyone who may hunt, wound, take, or kill any bird or mammal or who may take the eggs of any bird in order to secure food for himself or his family; nor to any person holding a permit conferring upon him the right to take birds, their nests or eggs, and mammals for scientific or other purposes. A permit may be granted by the Secretary of the Interior to any properly accredited person of the age of fifteen years or upward permitting the holder thereof to collect birds, their nests or eggs, and mammals for strictly scientific purposes only. Such a permit shall remain in force for a period of one year only from the date of issue and shall not be transferable. On proof that the holder of such a permit has killed any bird or mammal protected by this Act, or taken the nest or eggs of any such bird, for other than scientific purposes, he shall be subject to the same penalties as if he had no such permit: Provided, That nothing herein shall prevent the taking of so-called edible birds' nests under license duly issued in accordance with Act Numbered Seventeen hundred and sixty-nine.

SECTION 4. Whenever the Secretary of the Interior may deem it necessary for the public interest to protect any fish, bird, or mammal he may, by an order, subject to the approval of the Governor-General, declare and publish a close season for any bird or mammal mentioned in paragraphs (b) and (c) of section one of this Act, or for any fish, bird, or mammal for a period not to exceed five months in any one year. Such order may be applicable to the entire Philippine Islands or to any province or provinces specified therein, shall be issued at least two months before the commencement of such close season, and shall be published, for a period of three weeks before such order shall go into effect, in at least three daily papers in the city of Manila and in at least one daily paper published in the province or provinces specified in said order, if such there be, and a copy thereof shall be posted in the main entrance of the provincial building of such province or provinces.

SECTION 5. Any person violating any regulation or order of the Secretary of the Interior provided for in this Act shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred pesos for each fish, bird, or mammal unlawfully killed, taken, kept, shipped, possessed, or exported, or for each nest or egg taken or destroyed in violation of the provisions of this Act.

SECTION 6. Any person giving information that has led to the conviction of any person under the provisions of this Act shall receive one-half of the fine imposed, and it shall be the duty of the court in rendering the judgment of conviction to ascertain and declare the name of the informant entitled to receive one-half of the fine imposed.

SECTION 7. Nothing in this Act contained or in the regulations made hereunder shall be understood to prohibit the hunting, wounding, taking, or killing of wild pig in any manner or at any season of the year.

SECTION 8. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.

SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect on its passage.

Enacted: October 12, 1907