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Unlawful feeding of wildlife;
classification |
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13-2927. Unlawful feeding of wildlife;
classification - 2006
- A person commits unlawful feeding of
wildlife by intentionally, knowingly or recklessly feeding,
attracting or otherwise enticing wildlife into an area, except for:
- Persons lawfully taking or
holding wildlife pursuant to title 17 or pursuant to rules or
orders of the Arizona game and fish commission.
- Public employees or authorized
agents acting within the scope of their authority for public
safety or for wildlife management purposes.
- Normal agricultural or livestock
operational practices.
- Tree squirrels or birds.
- This section applies in a county
with a population of more than two hundred eighty thousand persons.
- Unlawful feeding of wildlife is a
petty offense.
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New
wildlife-feeding law goes into effect - From the AZ Game & Fish
News Media
Sep. 20, 2006
PHOENIX - Our recent drought has prompted many wild
animals to move into our cities, looking for food. Unfortunately, when
people intentionally feed wildlife, they can encourage these animals to
stick around, become aggressive and even dangerous to humans. A new law that
goes into effect tomorrow in Maricopa and Pima counties is aimed at
preventing those problems.
"Many people think feeding wildlife is a helpful thing to do, and they enjoy
seeing rabbits or deer spending time around their homes," says Elissa
Ostergaard, urban wildlife specialist in the Arizona Game and Fish
Department's Tucson office. "What also happens is that those animals attract
larger, predatory animals to the neighborhoods. That's when you have
coyotes, javelina and other animals that can become a danger to people and
harm their pets."
State Sen. Toni Hellon of Tucson sponsored the bill that evolved into the
wildlife-feeding law for Maricopa and Pima counties. The law does not affect
people just feeding birds and tree squirrels or anyone carrying out normal
livestock or agricultural operations. It is a public safety measure that
will only stop those who are intentionally, knowingly or recklessly feeding
wildlife.
"We do not intend to use this law unless someone is obviously creating a
problem in a neighborhood that could affect other people, and he or she has
already been warned," says Mike Senn, head of the Arizona Game and Fish
Department's field operations division. "We prefer to educate people first,
and this is a last resort option."
Problems associated with wildlife feeding include coyote attacks on eight
child victims in areas of Maricopa County, two recent Phoenix-area incidents
where javelina bit humans who were hand-feeding them, and several
human-mountain lion encounters in 2004 in Sabino Canyon and near an
elementary school in the Tucson area. |
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