Merced County, CA Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

28 governs conduct inside county-operated parks and recreation areas, including Lake Yosemite Park, Henderson Park and Hagaman Park. 040(B) flatly declares those grounds wildlife sanctuaries: hunting is prohibited outright, and no person may kill, wound, frighten, or capture any wild bird or animal within park boundaries at any time. The only carve-out is for a dangerous animal when action is necessary to stop it from inflicting personal injury on a person present. The rule sits alongside companion bans in the same section on discharging firearms, air guns, slingshots or explosives in a park, and on using spear guns or bow and arrow there, so the sanctuary designation is reinforced by a broader weapons prohibition covering the same grounds.

28 is administered by the county's director of public works, with rules reviewed by the Merced County Parks and Recreation Commission and approved by the Board of Supervisors. 120, drawing on Penal Code Section 830 authority. This sanctuary rule applies only within county parks and recreation areas in the unincorporated county; it does not reach private land or state-managed refuges such as the nearby Merced National Wildlife Refuge, which fall under separate federal and state hunting law.