Research On The Legal Concept Of "Wild Animal"

"Wild animal" is a seemingly simple but complex and fuzzy concept.Different countries have different definitions and methods of "wild animal" in their legal systems.Different contexts and ways of understanding will make its connotation and extension different.The clarity of the legal concept of "wild animal" is related to the realization of the justice value of relevant laws.However,Chinese legislation has not clearly defined the legal concept of "wild animal",which has caused a lot of disputes,and the academic community has not reached a consensus on the definition of the legal concept of "wild animal".To clarify the legal concept of "wild animal" has important theoretical and practical significance.Under the background of pursuing ecological civilization and emphasizing public safety,wild animals have multi-dimensional protection values such as economy,ecology and safety.This requires that the definition of the legal category of "wild animals" should pursue universal protection of wild animals,and be applicable to relevant legal systems other than the Wildlife Protection Law.The basic concept of"wild animals" based on the legal category of "wild animals" should be widely recognized and accepted by the public.At the same time,the method of defining the legal category of "wild animals" should be practical and feasible,and the result should be clear and definite.There are two kinds of viewpoints in the academic circle on the definition of the legal concept of "wild animal".One is the common sense standpoint,which is mainly based on the habitation of wild animals.Another scientism position defines "wild animal" primarily on the basis of whether or not they have been domesticated.Under the background of the new era,scientianism is an uncontroversial choice.It follows the scientific method of ecology,which is more conducive to the universal protection of wild animals,and more conducive to the scientific development of wild animals legal protection work and inter-departmental collaboration.At the same time,with the promotion of globalization and modern science education,the scientific definition of"wild animals" will gradually become a new common sense,and in fact,more and more accepted by the public.In contrast,the dimension of wild animal evaluation from the standpoint of common sense is too one-sided,which is easy to make the qualitative of the animals involved in the case fall into uncertainty and harm the stability of the law.Various countries,regions and international organizations have adopted three methods to define the legal category of "wild animals":definition method,enumeration method and exclusion method.Subject to the fuzziness of the concept of"wild animal",the definition law almost cannot avoid using fuzzy concepts to explain fuzzy concepts,which will cause difficulties for relevant judicial practice,but also provide judges with a large space of interpretation,and give the relevant legal norms a certain flexibility,practice and openness.Enumeration method can list the specific scope of wild animals and eliminate the professional barriers of law and biology in the legal protection of wild animals,which has strong feasibility,but at the cost of legal flexibility.In essence,exclusion method is a special definition method.Instead of directly describing the attribute of "wild",it makes use of the relativity of "wild animal" and defines,"wild animal" by excluding the relative "domestic animal",which is actually closer to the origin of the concept of "wild animal".In our legal system,the definition of the legal category of "wild animals" has some problems,such as the lack of the defining standard of the legal category of"wild animals",the lag of the content of the wild animals list system,the lack of professionalism,and the existence of internal contradictions.Based on the existing system,first of all,"wild animals" should be legally defined as "all animals except traditional livestock and poultry as well as domestic dogs and cats",and "special livestock and poultry" and "exotic animals" should be added on the basis of the existing classification of wild animals.The semi-aquatic wild animals are legally managed according to "aquatic wild animals",forming a scientific and systematic legal category structure of "wild animals".Secondly,we should improve the wild animals list system.First,we should increase the special adjustment mechanism of the list.Second,To amend the approved conversion protection for terrestrial wild animals in the CITES appendix and optimize the coordination among lists;Third,it is necessary to improve the procedures and norms for the formulation of the directory and ensure that the formulation and adjustment of the directory are scientific and democratic.Finally,it is necessary to improve the traceability mechanism of wild animals,accelerate the formal implementation of the "Special Marks Management Measures",strengthen the supervision and inspection of the use of special marks,and establish the record registration system of artificial breeding of ordinary wild animals.