Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts51. After section 78 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:
“78A. (1) Where—
(a) a person is found by a conservation officer to be in possession of a bird that is wildlife, not being—
(i) a bird that is on premises occupied by the person; or
(ii) an exempt animal;
(b) the conservation officer suspects on reasonable grounds that the bird is in the possession of the person in contravention of this Act;
(c) the person does not, upon being requested to do so by the conservation officer, produce for inspection by the conservation officer a permit or licence indicating that the person is entitled to have the bird in his or her possession; and
(d) the conservation officer believes on reasonable grounds that—
(i) the bird is suffering pain or is in a state of distress; or
(ii) the keeping of the bird in captivity, or in captivity of the kind in which it is being kept by the person, is likely to endanger the life of, or cause distress or otherwise be harmful to, the bird;
the conservation officer may, subject to subsection (2), seize the bird and, if the conservation officer believes on reasonable grounds that the welfare of the bird can be best provided for by releasing the bird from captivity, he or she may release it.
“(2) A conservation officer is not entitled to seize a bird under subsection (1) if, on the request of the person in whose possession the bird is found, the conservation officer fails to produce, for inspection by that person, the identity card issued to the conservation officer under subsection 11 (2).”.