Wild Animals Property Law
All Western legal systems have special property rules about wild animals. Roman law, followed with some modifications by English law, held that wild animals belonged to no one until they were captured. Once captured the animal belonged to its captor unless the animal escaped and returned to its natural liberty. The capture of fish and game is regulated everywhere in the West, and some legal systems hold that such animals belong to the state unless and until they are captured in a manner conforming with the regulatory scheme.
