(1)If it appears to the Secretary of State that it is expedient so to do for the purpose of preventing damage to crops, pasture, animal or human foodstuffs, livestock, trees, hedges, banks or any works on land, he may by notice in writing served on any person having the right so to do require that person to take, within such time as may be specified in the notice, such steps as may be so specified for the killing, taking or destruction on land so specified of such animals or birds to which this section applies as may be so specified or the eggs of such birds.
(2)A requirement shall not be imposed under the last foregoing subsection if apart from this subsection the killing, taking or destruction in question would be prohibited by law:
Provided that a requirement may be so imposed to kill or destroy [F2 —
(a)black grouse, common pheasant, grey partridge, ptarmigan, red grouse or red-legged partridge in the close season for that bird (within the meaning of section 2(4) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (c.69)); or
(b)brown hare or mountain hare in the close season for that hare (within the meaning of section 10A(2) of that Act);
and for the purposes of subsection (1) a person is not deemed not to have the right to comply with a requirement falling within this proviso by reason only that, apart from the proviso, compliance with the requirement would constitute an offence under section 1 or (as the case may be) 10A(1) of that Act. ]
(3)The animals to which this section applies are rabbits, hares and other rodents, deer, foxes and moles, and the birds to which this section applies are, in relation to any area, wild birds other than those [F3included in [F4Schedule 1 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981],as it applies in that area, whether by virtue of the terms thereof or by virtue of an order of the Secretary of State]; and this section shall apply to such other animals as may be prescribed.
Provided that regulations under this subsection may provide that for the purposes of section forty-nine of this Act any such other animals specified in the regulations shall not be treated as animals to which this section applies.
F5 [( 3A ) In subsection (3) above “ deer ” means any species of deer which is not included in the definition of “ deer ” in [F6 section 45 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 ]] (interpretation).
(4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F7
[F8(5)Where it appears to the Secretary of State expedient for the purpose of preventing damage by rabbits to crops, pasture, trees, hedges, banks or any works on land, he may by notice in writing served on the occupier of any land (or, in the case of unoccupied land, the person entitled to occupy it) require him to take on the land, within the time specified in the notice, such steps as may be so specified to destroy or reduce the breeding places or cover for rabbits or to exclude rabbits therefrom, or to prevent the rabbits living in any place on the land from spreading to or doing damage in any other place; but every such notice shall specify a time within which the occupier or any person interested in the land may submit to the Secretary of State written objections to the notice, and shall be provisional only and of no effect, unless confirmed after the expiration of that time by a further notice in writing served on the occupier of the land; and, where the occupier holds the land under a contract of tenancy, a copy of any notice under this subsection shall be served on any person to whom the occupier pays rent under the tenancy.
A provisional notice under this subsection may be confirmed either without modifications or with such modifications as appear to the Secretary of State desirable having regard to any objections submitted to him.]]
Textual Amendments
F1Ss. 39–42 repealed (so far as relating to sika deer within the meaning of the Deer (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 1982 or to any hybrid mentioned in section 1(4) of that Act) by Deer (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 1982 (c. 19, SIF 4:3), s. 66(1), Sch. 3
F2Words in s. 39(2) substituted (29.6.2011) by Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 (asp 6), s. 43(1), Sch. Pt para. 1 (with s. 41(1)); S.S.I. 2011/279, art. 2(1)(l)(i)
F3Words substituted by Protection of Birds Act 1954 (c. 30), Sch. 5
F4Words substituted by Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (c. 69, SIF 4:5), s. 72(4)
F5S. 39(3A) inserted (18.10.1996) by 1996 c. 44, ss. 13(1), 14(2), Sch. 1 para. 2(2).
F6Words in s. 39(3A) substituted (18.11.1996) by 1996 c. 58, s. 48(2)(6), Sch. 4 para. 1(2) (with s. 43(1)).
F7S. 39(4) repealed by Pests Act 1954 (c. 68), Sch.
F8S. 39(5) added by Pests Act 1954 (c. 68), s. 2(1)
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1S. 39 restricted by Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 (c. 55), s. 20; saved by Protection of Birds Act 1954 (c. 30), s. 4(1)(A); extended by Pests Act 1954 (c. 68), ss. 1(6)(9)(14), 3(2); amended by Pests Act 1954 (c. 68), s. 4(1)(2)
C2Ss. 39-42 repealed so far as relating to red deer by Deer (Scotland) Act 1959 (c. 40), Sch. 3