Collection of specimens

Tim wrote "Is it illegal to find it, shove in fridge overnight and give to a museum the next day (or soon). Sound pretty stupid if so - but that could be said of a
lot of laws."

Yes, the letter of the law states that this is illegal.  

I spoke to several people from Museums that I know well yesterday in an endeavour to clarify the issue, particularly in terms of what permits the museums might have to cover people.  The situation is that most (all?) permits require collectors to be listed individually so there is no provision to list all members of the public.  These museums however receive large numbers of specimens from the public.  These are collected illegally as the people picking them up do not have a permit to collect them. 

Everyone I spoke to stressed that no wildlife officer or police officer would be bothered to enforce this law as it just isn't worth their while, particularly if a plausible explanation could be provided as to how the specimen was procured and that it was being lodged with a museum.  Let's face it, how many specimens might you be carrying at any one time?  If you were caught with a dozen Freckled Duck in the boot of the car you might then have some real explaining to do.

So, it is illegal but a degree of common sense applies.  I'm not advocating anarchy and the breaking of any law that we might not like as Syd (I think it was Syd - apologies if it wasn't) alluded to.  I think we should leave it to the individual to assess the merits of this activity and leave it at that.  If in doubt ring you local museum or wildlife authority and ask for advice.  If you regularly come across potential specimens then apply for a licence from your wildlife authority to collect and hold for a short period.  Nothing daunting in this process and you might even find that you are told not to even bother - just do it.  Once again, please be clear that I'm not advocating any activity - you need to clarify the situation for yourself.

Cheers

David





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