Amendments to the Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995

6.  For regulation 35 (exceptions from regulation 34) substitute—

“Exceptions from regulation 34

35.— (1) A person shall not be guilty of an offence under regulation 34(1)(a) or (b) or under regulation 34(2)(a) or (b) if he shows that the contravention in question—

(a) was in relation to an animal that had been seriously disabled otherwise than by his unlawful act and there was no reasonable chance of its recovering, and

(b) was done solely for one or more of the purposes of—

(i) ending the animal’s life, or

(ii) disposing if it (otherwise than by sale or exchange) as soon as practicable after it was dead.

(2) A person shall not be guilty of an offence under regulation 34(1) of deliberately capturing a wild animal of a European protected species, or an offence under regulation 34(2)(a) or (b), if he shows that the contravention in question—

(a) was in relation to an animal that had been disabled otherwise than by his unlawful act, and

(b) was done solely for one or more of the purposes of—

(i) tending it and releasing it when no longer disabled, or

(ii) releasing it after it had been tended.”