2. Although periodic capturing of elephants has been recognized as a management option for containing depredation and population control, this option is seldom exercised because of the very limited scope to dispose of elephants under the WPA-1972 and the export policy. The WPA-1972 is laden with too many restrictions to encourage elephant keeping in India. There is no evidence that trade in live elephants is in any way responsible for endangering Asian elephants, yet being in Schedule-I of the WPA-1972 and Appendix I of the CITES, they are precluded from trade. 3. The domesticated elephant was excluded from the definition of livestock through an amendment in the WPA-1972 in 1991. This has theoretically placed it outside the purview of the Livestock Department. Moreover, domesticated elephants are precluded from the legal requirement of the prophylactic inoculation of livestock around Protected Areas. 4. As the elephant is included in Schedule-I, offences associated with this animal attract maximum punishment under the WPA-1972. A person can get the same punishment for possessing an elephant without permission of the CWLW as for poaching a tusker. Even minor offences relating to elephants are not compoundable. Thus, for a large number of persons who have unwittingly violated some provision of the Act concerning captive elephants, there is no other option but to keep quiet about the violation and perhaps continue with it. 5. Domesticated elephants are used for different types of work in India. Many of these elephants are subjected to a variety of acts of cruelty (Barua & Bist, 1996). The WPA-1972 or the rules framed under it do not provide for the care and maintenance of captive elephants other than those in the custody of the zoos recognized by the CZA. The provisions of the PCA-1960 are generally not appropriate for elephants. It is necessary to frame exclusive standards and norms for elephant owners and enforce the same through the WPA-1972 (Bist, 1996). |
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