THE decision to give the basking shark protected status in this country was warmly welcomed by many wildlife enthusiasts and ecologists. It will now be an offence to hunt them, since they have been awarded ‘protected wild animal’ status under the Wildlife Act.
And it’s not just animal-lovers who were happy with the news, either. Shark and whale watching has become massive business in Ireland in recent years, and especially in West Cork. There have been many jobs created by these wonderful boat trips off our coast to see these incredible creatures in their natural habitat.
But it would also be nice to see our legislators listening to the decades-long calls to protect various other wildlife species, not least of all our beautiful hares, which are still hunted, legally, in this country. Our closest neighbour, Britain, brought in strict new laws in August, for what its government calls the ‘cruel practice’ of hare coursing. Anyone caught hare coursing in the UK will now face an unlimited fine and up to six months in prison. No such legislation exists here.
