Capturing and Owning

Abstract

With this broad framework of our legal system, the aims of wildlife law, and the concepts of state ownership and public interest all in place, we turn now to some of the elements of wildlife law that most directly apply to citizens as they interact with animals. Our inquiry starts by considering the main ways in which people gain ownership rights in wild animals, through the well-known rule of capture. We shall explore what actions qualify as lawful capture and then turn to questions involving private land. What rights do landowners have to exclude outside hunters, and who owns animals killed by trespassers? We will similarly look at what happens when a capture takes place in violation of game laws. Assuming a capture is lawful and that a hunter gains rights in an animal, what are those legal rights, how long do they last, and what danger is there that lawmakers might redefine property rights in wildlife after capture has occurred? In chapter 8, we further develop many of these issues by looking at the special legal problems posed by contemporary game ranches.