both Reichsforstmeister ('Imperial Master of Forestry') and Reichsjagdmeister ('Imperial Master of Hunting'). Republic of Ireland In the Republic of Ireland, hunting with hounds is legal and there are many hound packs in the country. Fox hunting is legal as foxes are not a protected species, but hunts must be registered and take place at only certain times of the year. Lamping, the night-time hunting of rabbits with lurcher dogs and bright lights, is legal. Hunting protected species is controlled under the Wildlife Acts 1976 to 2012. It is illegal to hunt deer with dogs. Hunting of hares with dogs is also illegal. United Kingdom England and Wales Hunting of wild mammals in the traditional style is banned by the Hunting Act 2004. Earlier acts, such as the Protection of Animals Act 1911, the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 contained specific exemptions for hunting activities. Scotland In February 2002 the Scottish Parliament voted by eighty three to thirty six to pass legislation to ban hunting with hounds. MSPs decided not to give compensation to those whose livelihoods or businesses might suffer as a result of the ban. The Act came into effect on August 1, 2002. An article in The Guardian on 9 September 2004 reports that of the ten Scottish hunts, nine survived the ban, using the permitted exemption allowing them to use packs of hounds to flush foxes to guns. A number of convictions have taken place under the Act, two for people hunting foxes and ten for hare coursing. The only prosecution of a traditional mounted hunt led to a not guilty verdict, but to a clarification of the law, with the sheriff saying that the activity of flushing foxes to guns "will require to be accompanied by realistic and one would expect, effective arrangements for the shooting of pest species. The use of what might be termed "token guns" or what was described by the Crown as paying lip service to the legislation is not available ... as a justification for the continuation of what was referred to in the evidence before me as traditional fox hunting." Currently fox hunting takes place in Scotland as described in the Scotsman's article. There are eleven hunts in Scotland where the rules are more relaxed. The continuation of the stricter laws in England and Wales has been guaranteed by the Scottish National Party.