Abstract: The legal status of wild animals has become a significant theoretical issue attracting considerable attention in recent years.Scholars have both domestically and internationally proposed major theories such as "legal subject theory","special object status theory",and "subject-object integration theory",yet no consensus has been reached.The root cause of this divergence lies in the varied understandings among scholars regarding the attributes of wild animals and the relationship between humans and wild animals from a factual perspective.In reality,beyond possessing resource and property attributes,wild animals also exhibit ecological,ethical,risk,and environmental characteristics.Therefore,from a jurisprudential perspective,it is insufficient to view wild animals merely as "objects" under traditional civil law;instead,they should be regarded as special subjects that are closely related to but fundamentally distinct from "objects",referred to here as "pre-objects" or "quasi-objects".Based on this understanding,we need to reassess new legal principles embedded in concepts and systems such as state ownership of wildlife resources,hunting rights,and breeding rights.In terms of legal expression,one approach is to follow the path of legal ecologization by incorporating "leaving space","opening branches","setting boundaries","laying foundations",and "establishing frameworks" into the Civil Code.This would involve confirming and providing principled regulations concerning the legal status of wild animals,ownership of wildlife resources,and related real rights,while also setting up referraland guiding clauses to serve as conduits linking the Civil Code with specialized environmental laws.Another approach involves following the path of specialization in environmental law,whereby specific provisions on the operation of rights such as state ownership of wildlife resources,hunting rights,and breeding rights,along with compensation for damages caused by wildlife,can be detailed within the Wildlife Protection Law and other specialized environmental legislation.This would gradually shift the traditional emphasis on administrative over civil aspects and power over rights.Environmental law research must adopt a self-conscious methodology integrating factual reasoning,jurisprudence,and legal norms to contribute intellectual insights and efforts towards forming an independently innovative body of knowledge in Chinese environmental law.

Key words: wild animals, legal status, objects, environmental law, civil law, ecologization of civil law, Civil Code