Also known as: wild animals · animals ferae naturae
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Animals that exist in a wild state by nature and remain unowned until reduced to possession. Classification as ferae naturae turns on the species rather than the tameness of any individual specimen.
Bayview Shipyard kept an aggressive sea lion in a low pen near scrap metal that attracted nighttime intruders. Carlos trespassed onto the dock to harvest mussels and was bitten when he leaned over the barrier. The court analyzed the shipyard's duty by treating the sea lion as an artificial condition rather than applying any special wild-animal rule.
Post started a fox with his hounds and chased it across open fields. Pierson shot and killed the fox just as Post was about to seize it. The court held that Post acquired no property right because he never achieved possession of the wild animal.
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South Carolina required nonresidents to pay a much higher fee than residents for a commercial shrimp license. Toomer challenged the statute as violating the privileges and immunities clause. The Court rejected the state's claim that fish were ferae naturae held in trust solely for its own citizens.
Montana charged nonresidents substantially higher fees for elk and deer hunting licenses than residents. Baldwin sued, arguing the differential violated the privileges and immunities clause. The Court noted that wild animals remain ferae naturae until captured and that states may regulate them without creating a property right for nonresidents.
Harmelin received a mandatory life sentence without parole for possessing a large quantity of cocaine. He argued the punishment was cruel and unusual. The Court observed that historical analogies to ferae naturae do not limit a state's authority to impose severe penalties for serious offenses.
Preston Mill maintained a captive bear on its property for display. The bear escaped through a fence gap and injured a neighboring farmer's livestock. The court held the mill strictly liable because the animal remained ferae naturae even after temporary captivity.
Classification turns on the species rather than any individual animal's tameness or training. Courts consider whether the animal naturally seeks freedom, whether it is indigenous to the area, and whether it bears markings or exhibits behavior showing domestication.
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No. Mere pursuit or sighting gives no property right. Ownership requires actual possession that deprives the animal of its natural liberty, such as through nets, snares, or other means that prevent escape.
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A state may regulate capture and hunting of wild animals, but it cannot impose discriminatory fees or limits that violate the privileges and immunities clause without an independent justification unrelated to mere ownership of the resource.
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A possessor is strictly liable for harm that results from a dangerous propensity characteristic of the animal's class, even if the possessor exercised utmost care. Liability does not extend to harm from an escaped animal that has returned to its natural state in the locality.
…by, and in the view of, the person who originally found, started, chased it, and was on the point of seizing it. Occupancy in wild animals can be acquired only by possession, but such possession does not signify manucaption, though it must be of such a kind as by nets, snares or other means, as to so circumvent the creature…