Bird ringing and tagging or marking of wild animals are very important activities in the field of wildlife research. From them can be learned many different things about wild creatures, for example, migratory habits, life-span, mortality, population trends, and so on. The operation, which involves capturing the birds or animals, usually with nets or traps, and attaching suitable rings or tags, should only be undertaken by persons with appropriate training and skills.
Section 32 is aimed at controlling these activities, through a licensing system, in order to assist scientific and systematic research. Such control is a feature of wildlife legislation in other countries. In Britain the Protection of Birds Act, 1967, makes it obligatory to obtain a permit for bird ringing and the British Conservation of Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Act, 1975 prohibits the marking of protected wild creatures save under permit. What we are proposing to do is to license the ringing or tagging of birds. Certain very valuable scientific information can be accumulated but if every Tom, Dick and Harry were permitted to tag or ring the work would become meaningless.
