Wild animals, whilst living, though they were the property of the owner of the soil on which they were living, were not his personal chattels. Animals ferae naturae killed by a trespasser became the property of the landowner.
Lord Chelmsford said: ‘With respect to wild and unreclaimed animals therefore, there can be no doubt that no property exists in them so long as they remain in the state of nature. It is also equally certain that when killed or reclaimed by the owner of the land on which they are found, or by his authority, they become at once his property, absolutely when they are killed, and in a qualified manner when they are reclaimed.’
Property ratione privilegii is a right by virtue of ‘a peculiar franchise anciently granted by the Crown in virtue of its prerogative’, of which examples include a free warren.
Judges:
Lord Cranworth, Lord Chelmsford
Citations:
[1861] EngR 693, (1861) 10 CB NS 713, (1861) 142 ER 634
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Borwick Development Solutions Ltd v Clear Water Fisheries Ltd CA 1-May-2020
Only Limited Ownership of pond fish
BDS owned land with closed fishing ponds. They sold the land to the respondents, but then claimed that the fish, of substantial value, were not included in the contract. The court as asked whether the captive fish were animals ferae naturae or . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Animals
Updated: 22 November 2022; Ref: scu.284454
