| In conclusion, it may be said that the provisions relating to ownership certificates are the most confusing and the least understood parts of the WPA-1972. This has resulted in a strange situation where a large number of domesticated elephants have neither been provided with ownership certificates nor confiscated by the Forest Department for violation of the law. Available information indicates that there are only about 1 300-1 400 domesticated elephants with ownership certificates in India and that accounts for about 48 percent of the eligible elephants. In Tamilnadu and Delhi, the percentage of privately owned elephants having ownership certificates is above 80 percent. Assam is reported to have issued as many as 703 (63 percent) ownership certificates but it is doubtful that all these certificates are in conformity with the provisions of the WPA-1972. Circus elephants are mostly covered under ownership certificates. There are many instances when Forest Officers, who feel more comfortable with the Forest Acts than with the WPA-1972, have issued transit permits in lieu of ownership certificates for elephants sold by them to persons, circuses or temples. A few more points regarding registration of elephants merit attention. The form for the ownership certificate has not been designed with the elephant in mind. Hence, it may not be possible to identify the elephant on the basis of the scanty information given in the ownership certificate. The Act does not provide for periodic renewal of ownership certificates to ensure recording of the current measurements and features of the elephant. Moreover, provisions of the Act relating to affixing identification marks on the elephant have not been followed. In fact, not much thought has been given to developing a convenient, cost effective and socially acceptable method of marking elephants. Organizations and their major projects State Forest Departments (SFDs) have a double role to play as regards domesticated elephants: employer and regulator. All states having wild elephants, except Mizoram and Manipur, employ captive elephants. In states like Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, almost all the domesticated elephants belong to the SFD. In some states, SFDs also own some of the zoological parks having elephants. By and large, the SFD elephants are properly looked after. There are rules and orders for maintenance and care of these elephants. Wildlife Wings of the SFDs headed by the CWLWs are responsible for enforcing the provisions of the WPA-1972 relating to domesticated elephants. Bihar Forest Department plays an important role in organising the annual elephant fair at Sonepur. The SFD in Karnataka also helps in organising an elephant procession during the world famous Dushera fair at Mysore. Forest staff are frequently called upon to control tuskers owned by circus or private individuals when they go berserk or come in musth. After the ban on the commercial capture and trade in elephants, the occasional capture of wild elephants by the SFDs is the only source of new domesticated elephants in India. |
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