Wildlife in captivity and rehabilitation

It is the regime Act 241-1999 applies to holding, moving or handling live wild fauna or its nests, eggs and young outside sport hunting. It rests on two prohibitions in Article 6 and on the list of permits in Article 16, which is where the Act places the activities that may be authorised: non-sport hunting for scientific, educational or population-control purposes, scientific research, the confinement and rehabilitation of wildlife, humpback whale watching, and the captive breeding of fauna and flora species.

Article 6(p) reserves the exception not to a type of person but to a type of purpose: scientific, educational or recovery, and always with the Secretary’s written authorisation. Article 16(a) describes the special non-sport hunting permits as those requested to kill, collect or keep in captivity wildlife species as specimens for scientific, educational or population-control purposes, and leaves the terms, the fees and the conditions to regulation. Nothing in the articles we read creates an exception for spontaneous rescue by a private individual.

• Not possessing or keeping in captivity any species of wild fauna, native or migratory, nor any game animal, except for scientific, educational or recovery purposes and with the Secretary’s written authorisation (Article 6(p)).Verified against the official source
• Not possessing, transporting, taking, collecting or destroying individuals, nests, eggs or young of wildlife species without the Secretary’s prior authorisation (Article 6(u)).Verified against the official source
• Not hunting or collecting vulnerable or endangered species, nor possessing, transporting or selling articles derived from them (Article 6(o)).Verified against the official source
• Obtaining from the Secretary the permit matching the activity, among those Article 16 names: non-sport hunting for scientific, educational or population-control purposes; scientific research; confinement and rehabilitation; humpback whale watching; and captive breeding.Verified against the official source
• Meeting the terms, fees and conditions the Secretary establishes by regulation for the special non-sport hunting permits (Article 16(a)).Verified against the official source
• Holding a licence or permit from the Secretary to collect, which Article 2(i) defines as capturing or taking possession of any wildlife species (Article 5).Verified against the official source

• The Secretary’s written authorisation, which is the form Article 6(p) requires for captivity for scientific, educational or recovery purposes.
• The Secretary’s prior authorisation to possess, transport, take, collect or destroy individuals, nests, eggs or young (Article 6(u)).
• The special non-sport hunting permit, where the activity is killing, collecting or keeping specimens in captivity for scientific, educational or population-control purposes (Article 16(a)).

1. 1

   Step 1: The nest and the egg count as wild fauna

   Before the prohibitions it helps to fix the definition, because it is broader than people assume. Article 2(p) says wild fauna comprises birds, reptiles, aquatic or terrestrial mammals, amphibians and all invertebrates, and includes any part, product, nest, egg, young or the dead body or part of it. A feather, an empty nest and a dead animal are inside the definition. Article 2(i) adds that collecting is capturing or taking possession of any wildlife species, without needing to kill anything.

2. 2

   Step 2: Keeping a wild animal at home is illegal, save one exception

   Article 6(p) says it at once: it is illegal to possess or keep in captivity any species of wild fauna, native or migratory, or game animal, except for scientific, educational or recovery purposes, in which case the Secretary’s written authorisation must be in place. The exception is defined by purpose and by paperwork: a good reason is not enough, the written authorisation is required. And note the reach: native or migratory, and game animals too.

3. 3

   Step 3: Taking a nest or a chick is a separate prohibition

   Article 6(u) is not a repeat of the previous one: it covers five verbs and a different object. It is illegal to possess, transport, take, collect or destroy the individuals, nests, eggs or young of wildlife species without the Secretary’s prior authorisation. The only exception the subsection itself writes is narrow: invertebrates and flora found on private land and not designated by regulation. Picking up a fallen chick and taking it home falls within “taking” and “transporting” as the text is drafted.

4. 4

   Step 4: For vulnerable species there is no written exception

   Article 6(o) makes it illegal to hunt or collect vulnerable or endangered species, and to possess, transport or sell articles derived from vulnerable or endangered species designated by the Department. Unlike subsection (p), that text does not carry a scientific-purpose exception within it. Which species these are is for the Secretary to determine: Article 9(i) gives the power to designate them and Article 2(ñ) defines them as those whose population numbers require, in the Secretary’s judgement, special attention to ensure their perpetuation.

5. 5

   Step 5: The permits the Act names

   Article 16 lists, in addition to hunting licences, other classes of licence or permit the Secretary may issue. Subsection (a) creates the special non-sport hunting permits, requested to kill, collect or keep in captivity in Puerto Rico wildlife species as specimens for scientific, educational or population-control purposes, and leaves the terms, fees and conditions to regulation. Subsection (f) mentions the permit to carry out scientific research. Subsection (g), the one for the confinement and rehabilitation of wildlife. Subsection (h), the one for humpback whale watching, which the Act prints as Megaptera novaengliae. And subsection (i), the one for the captive breeding of fauna and flora species.

6. 6

   Step 6: Non-sport hunting does not mean a hunt

   The label misleads. Article 2(e) defines non-sport hunting as the hunting activity for scientific or educational purposes, population control or any other non-sport hunting activity the Secretary authorises by permit. And Article 2(h) defines hunting as pursuing, wounding, killing, capturing, shooting at, disturbing or destroying any species of wild fauna. Capturing and disturbing are on that list, so a capture-and-release survey also needs a permit, even if nobody fires a shot.

7. 7

   Step 7: Hunting for control or science is not bound by the season rule

   Article 6(f), which forbids hunting game animals outside the established seasons, carries an express proviso: the hunting of wildlife species for scientific purposes and animal control or educational purposes by persons duly authorised for it by the Secretary shall not be considered illegal. The proviso depends entirely on that authorisation, not on the purpose declared by whoever hunts.

8. 8

   Step 8: What happens to a seized animal

   Article 23 names the Secretary trustee and custodian of all wildlife, as well as of seized exotic, harmful and venomous animals, and empowers them to bring civil actions claiming damages. The same article assigns twenty-five per cent of the Special Fund for Wildlife Management to the Department’s Cuerpo de Vigilantes, for acquiring equipment, training and providing direct care to seized animals.

9. 9

   Step 9: Fines are counted per specimen

   Article 22(a) sets the general tier as a misdemeanour, with a fine of not less than one hundred and not more than five hundred dollars per specimen, or up to six months in jail, or both. It rises to a felony where it relates to harmful and venomous species, with a mandatory fine of one thousand to five thousand dollars per specimen. And breaches of the regulations on vulnerable or endangered species are a felony with a fine of not less than five thousand and not more than fifty thousand dollars per specimen, or ninety days to three years in jail, or both. The unit is the specimen, not the incident.

Before the Secretary of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, who grants the written authorisation of Article 6(p), the prior authorisation of Article 6(u) and the permits of Article 16, and who sets their terms, fees and conditions by regulation. Enforcement is with the law-enforcement officers of Article 21, among them the Department’s own Cuerpo de Vigilantes.

• Believing the Act only regulates hunting: Article 6(p) reaches having the animal, even if nobody hunted anything.
• Thinking a fallen chick belongs to whoever picks it up: taking and transporting young is in Article 6(u).
• Assuming an empty nest does not count: the Article 2(p) definition includes nests, eggs and young.
• Believing good intentions are enough: the Article 6(p) exception requires the Secretary’s written authorisation.
• Conflating the two prohibitions: captivity and nests-and-young are separate subsections with different exceptions.
• Taking the invertebrate exception to apply anywhere: it is only on private land and only if they were not designated by regulation.
• Treating a vulnerable species like the rest: Article 6(o) carries no written purpose exception.
• Thinking capture-and-release needs no permit: hunting includes capturing and disturbing.
• Believing a scientific permit is a general permit: Article 16 lists separate permits for research, rehabilitation, whale watching and captive breeding.
• Counting the fine per incident: the Article 22 tiers are counted per specimen.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA)

  DRNA

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov