Wildlife Sanctuary

A wildlife refuge, also called a wildlife sanctuary, is a naturally occurring sanctuary, such as an island, that provides protection for species from hunting, predation or competition; it is a protected area, a geographic territory within which wildlife is protected.

Such wildlife refuges are generally officially designated territories. They are created by government legislation, publicly or privately owned (the Chernobyl nuclear accident site has accidentally become a wildlife refuge). Refuges can preserve animals that are endangered.

In the 3rd century BC, King Devanampiya Tissa declared the area around Mihintale, Sri Lanka as a sanctuary for wildlife, probably the first of its kind in the ancient world. According to stone inscriptions found in the vicinity, the king commanded the people not to harm animals or destroy trees within the area.

The first American wildlife refuge, Lake Merritt Wildlife Refuge at Lake Merritt, was established by Samuel Merritt and enacted in California state law in 1870 as the first government owned refuge. The first federally owned refuge in America is Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge and was established by Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 as part of his Square Deal campaign to improve America. At the time, setting aside land for wildlife was not a constitutional right of the president. More recently, a bi-partisan group of US House of Representatives members established the Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus to further the needs of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the US Congress.

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