Wild animals

Question 1

Wild animal

Answer 1

An animal which belongs to a category of animals that have not been generally domesticated and that are likely, unless restrained, to cause personal injury
a) A defendant will be held strictly liable for any injuries caused by wild animals as long as the person did nothing consciously to provoke the injury
b) A defendant will be held strictly liable for injuries caused by domestic animals if the defendant knew or should have known of the animal’s dangerous propensities
c) A defendant may be held strictly liable to invitees and licensees who are injured by dangerous domestic animals while on the defendant’s land unless it is a zoo/sanctuary
d) To trespassers a landowner may generally not be held strictly liable and the trespasser must show that the landowner acted negligently in the injury, as where the landowner that a trespasser was on the land and the owner failed to warn the trespasser of the animal

Question 2

Livestock

Answer 2

Strict liability for the possessor of trespassing livestock unless
a) The harm is not foreseeable
b) The trespass by animals being driven along the highway is confined to abutting land
OR
c) State common law or statute requires the complaining landowner to have erected a fence

Question 3

Analysis

Answer 3

1. Does a special rule apply such as a zoo or trespassing livestock?
2. Is the animal wild?
3. Is the animal domestic?