Chronography of Animal Protection
Page last modified 31 May 2023
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See International for global population,
and demography maps
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For whale conservation, see �whales
and whaling�,
For animal protection organisatoions see Environment
.
2/2005, In the UK, the Hunting Act, banning hunting with dogs,
came into force.
22 September 2002, 400,000 protesters marched
through London in support of the Countryside Alliance�s Liberty and Livelihood
protest against the government�s proposed ban on foxhunting
22
October 1994, In the USA, the Rhinoceros and Tiger Act came into
force. It was intended to assist the preservation of these animals in countries
where their habitat is.
8 March 1985, Every Chinese child was ordered to donate one
Feng (then equivalent to 2p) to save the Giant Panda from extinction.
1979, An international convention limiting seal huntiing in Antarctica was
agreed.
30 August 1973, Kenya banned
hunting elephants and trading in ivory.
15 October 1966, In the USA, the Endangered Species
Preservation Act came into force. Initially, 78 species in danger were listed.
By April 1999, some species, such as the bald eagle and the black footed
ferret, have come off the critical list but a further 925 species remained
listed.
1950, In Britain, the docking of
horse�s trails was made illegal.
18
October 1927. Dancing
bears were banned from the streets of Berlin.
1922, Australia began
conservation measures to save the koala bear, after trappers had killed 8
million in 4 years and nearly driven the species to extinction.
7 July 1911, In Washington, DC, the USA, Russia, the UK and
Japan signed the Convention on the International
Protection of Fur Seals, prohibiting hunting of the endangered animals in
the North Pacific Ocean. In the first six years afterwards, the fur seal
population increased by 30%.
28 July 1907, Russia and Japan agreed to stop culling seals and
sea-lions.
1909, The USA set up a National
Bison Refuge near Moise, Montana.
1895, The rescue from extinction
of the African Southern White Rhinocerous began. Until now they had been hunted
almost to extinction until, this year, the South African Government
set up a game reserve, now known as the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, to maintain the
species, of which just 40 were left. By the 1960s private landowners were also
setting up reserves where the species could be preserved, for paying game
shooters. The fee for the hunters was, 2009, US$ 40,000, making the species
commercially-valuable.
1835, Animal fighting �
cockfights, bear and bull baiting � were banned in the UK. However illegal
animal contests were still held at Wandsworth in 1840, at Eccles in 1842 and at
West Derby in 1853.
1822, The UK Government passed a Bill
outlawing cruelty to cattle.
1802, The UK Parliament attempted to outlaw animal fighting. The Bill was
supported by Sheridan
and Wilberforce,
but was defeated; opponents of the Bill saw it as a Jacobin and Methodist plot
to attck the �traditrional British way of life�. Animal baitimng contests also supported a considerable betting industry.
1788, In Stamford the Lord Mayor and Lord Exeter tried to stop the annual
bull-running event. On 13 November a bull was turned loose on the streets
of the town and chased until, exhausted, the animal was caught, killed, and
eaten. In 1836 the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals sent
representatives to stop the event and a riot ensued. The Home Secretary in 1838
urged the toiwn authgorities to stop the event, ut even with the assistance of
constables, soldiers and police the bull run was not halted. By 1840 the event
had ceased anyway.
Bird
Protection
1968, Cousin
Island, Seychelles, was set up as an international wild bird reserve.
1946,
The Wildfowl Trust at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, was set up by Peter Scott.
1922,
In London,
UK,the International Council for Bird
Preservation (ICBP) was founded.
1901,
The term �bird-watching� came into
use for a person who observes birds in the wild.
1891,
The Society for the Protection of Birds
(SPB) was founded by women who had been excluded by the all-male membership
policy of the British Ornithologists Union (BOU). London, UK, had become the
centre of a very rapacious trade in bird carcasses, with 200 million birds
being killed each year to provide ornamentation for ladies hats. Egrets were
prized for their long feathers. Within 6 months the SPB had 5,000 members, and
10,000 by by 1893. It achieved 20,000 members by 1899, and men were encoiuraged
to join by making them �Life Associates�.In 1904 it became the RSPB when King
Edward VII granted it a Royal Charter. Despite opposition from the British
millinery trade, in 7/1921 the Importation
of Plumage (Prohibition) Act was passed in the UK, and Britain became a
centre for bird conservation instead.
|
RSPB Membership |
Year |
|
92,000 |
1972 |
|
340,000 |
1981 |
|
827,000 |
1990 |
7 September 1880, In Britain, the Wild Birds� Protection Act was passed.