Changes to the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 â€" revision to Schedule of Controlled Species
Following an independent review of the Act and subsequent consultation exercises, the statutory list of dangerous wild animals has been revised. The list is now limited to those species which experts agree present a genuine risk to the public.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Following an independent review of the Act and subsequent consultation exercises, the statutory list of dangerous wild animals has been revised. The list is now limited to those species which experts agree present a genuine risk to the public.
The revised Schedule ( SI 2007/2465 ) comes into force today and the following species, which have been added to the Schedule, will now require licensing:
The following species, which are no longer considered to present a threat, have been removed from the Schedule and will no longer require licences:
Woolly lemurs ( Avahi laniger ) Tamarins ( species of the genera Leontopithecus and Saguinus ) Night ( or Owl ) monkeys ( species of the genus Aotus ) Titis monkeys ( species of the genus Callicebus ) Squirrel monkeys ( species of the genus Saimiri ) Sloths ( Bradypodidae ) North American porcupine ( Erithizon dorsatum ) Capybara ( Hydrochaeridae ) Crested porcupines ( species of the genus Hystrix ) Cat hybrids ( whose ancestry is predominantly Felis silvestris catus – the domestic cat ) Wild cat ( Felis silvestris ) Pallas cat ( Otocolobus manul ) Little spotted cat ( Leopardus tigrinus ) Geoffroy’s cat ( Oncifelis geoffroyi ) Kodkod ( Oncifelis guigna ) Bay cat ( Catopuma badia ) Sand cat ( Felis margarita ) Black-footed cat ( Felis nigripes ) Rusty-spotted cat ( Prionailurus rubiginosus ) Cacomistles ( species of the genus Bassariscus ) Raccoons ( species of the genus Procyon ) Coatis ( species of the genus Nasua ) Olingos ( species of the genus Bassaricyon ) Little coatimundi ( Nasuella olivacea ) Kinkajou ( Potos flavus ) Binturong ( Arctictis binturong ) Hyraxes ( Procaviidae ) Guanaco ( Lama guanicoe ) Vicugna ( Vicugna vicugna ) Emus ( Dromaiidae ) Sand snakes ( species of the genus Psammophis ) Mangrove snake ( Boiga dendrophila ) Brazilian wolf spider ( Lycosa raptoria )
Notes to editors 1. The Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 ( ‘the Act’ ) regulates the keeping of dangerous wild animals. It aims to ensure individuals who keep such animals do so in circumstances which create no risk to the public and, to some extent, safeguard the welfare of the animals. This is done by means of a local authority licensing regime. The Schedule to the Act lists the animals that require licences, should people wish to keep them privately.
2. A review of the Act highlighted the need to update and revise it, as there was believed to be wide-spread non-compliance amongst some animal keepers. A number of the species listed in the 1980’s were considered to be no more dangerous than domestic cats or dogs and this had further undermined the Act’s credibility.
3. Following the review of the Schedule, the Department sought advice from a selected group of experts in formulating proposals on which species should be removed or added to the current Schedule. These experts took a number of factors into account, including the likelihood and capacity of the animal causing serious injury to humans.
4. The Department went out to public consultation, setting out the Department’s options for improving the effectiveness of the Act. Some of the responses recommended amendments ( both additions and deletions ) to the list of controlled species ( the Schedule ) but few suggestions were backed up with new evidence in support of them.
5. Ministers agreed to the revision of the Act’s species list by secondary legislation, to limit it to those species, which the experts thought presented a genuine threat to the public.
This story was released on 2007-10-02. Please make sure to visit the official company or organization web site to learn more about the original release date. See our disclaimer for additional information.