| Laws The first codification of laws relating to elephants in India is found in the famous treatise on statecraft Arthasastra by Kautilya, Prime Minister of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya (third century B.C.). It stipulated the setting up of elephant sanctuaries on the periphery of the kingdoms and prescribed the death penalty for anyone killing an elephant within the sanctuary. The era of modern legislation was introduced in India by the East India Company in the 18th century. Some of the earlier pieces of legislation concerning elephants include: the Government Forest Act, 1865 (Act VII of 1865), the Bengal Act 2 of 1866, the Bengal Act 4 of 1866, the Bengal Regulation 5 of 1873, the Madras Wild Elephant Preservation Act, 1873 (The Madras Act No.1 of 1872), the Indian Forest Act, 1878 (Act VII of 1878), the Elephant Preservation Act, 1879 (Act VI of 1879), the Bengal Act 5 of 1898, the Mysore Games and Fish Preservation Regulations, 1901, the Wild Birds and Animals Protection Act, 1912 (Act VIII of 1912) and the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (Act XIV of 1927). The Acts of 1879, 1912 and 1927 remained the major laws for protecting elephants in most parts of the country until 1972 (Bist & Barua, 2000). The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (No. 53 of 1972) [WPA- 1972] is at present the principal legal instrument for the protection of wild animals in India. It is applicable all over India except in the State of Jammu and Kashmir that has a separate but similar Act. In view of Section 66 (Repeal and Savings), this Act has an overriding effect over all other laws concerning wild fauna in India. This Act has also led to the formation of separate Wildlife Wings headed by a Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW) in the states and by a Director of Wildlife Preservation at the Centre to carry out the provisions of the Act. It is interesting to note that in the original WPA-1972, the Indian (Asian) elephant was included in Schedule-II (Part I) of the Act thereby granting it the status of"Special Game” that could be killed or captured on the basis of a licence (Section 9) and commercially traded under a licence (Section 44). The domesticated elephant was included in the definition of Cattle [Section 2(6)]. Ivory was kept outside the purview of the Act. The WPA-1972 and its schedules were amended substantially in 1977, 1980, 1982, 1986 and 1991 and the amendments have special implications for the elephant. Most of these changes were influenced by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) that has the Asian elephant in Appendix I. India became a party to CITES on July 20, 1976 when it became obligatory to change the domesticated legislation and the country's import/export policy to bring its provisions into conformity with those of the CITES. The Indian elephant was transferred to Schedule-I (i.e. the most protected species) on October 5 1977. The export of the Indian elephant and its ivory from India was banned in 1978. Domestic trade in the ivory of the Indian elephant was banned in November 1986. The Act recognizes a domesticated elephant both as a ‘captive animal' [Section 2(5)] and a ‘wild animal' [Section 2(36)]. The term ‘vehicle' as defined in the Act also includes the elephant [Section 2(33)]. |
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