Debate over jumbos, vermins

Subject :Environment

Context-

The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill 2022 has invited scrutiny on two major issues: the exemption made to allow the transfer of captive elephants, and the sweeping powers given to the Centre to declare species as vermin.

Status of elephant under WLPA, 1972-

In 1897, the Elephants’ Preservation Act prohibited the killing or capture of wild elephants unless in self-defence or to protect property and crops, or under a licence issued by the district collector.
The Wildlife (Protection) Act (WLPA), 1972, identified the elephant, along with the bullock, camel, donkey, horse, and mule, as a “vehicle”.
Given the highest legal protection in 1977, the elephant is the only animal in WLPA’s Schedule-I that can still be owned legally — by means of inheritance or gift.

What the amendment has proposed-

In 2003, Section 3 of the WLPA prohibited trade in all captive wildlife and any (non-commercial) transfer across state boundaries without permission from the concerned chief wildlife warden.
The WLPA (Amendment) Bill 2021 proposed an exception to Section 43: “This section shall not apply to the transfer or transport of any live elephant by a person having a certificate of ownership, where such person has obtained prior permission from the State Government on fulfillment of such conditions as may be prescribed by the Central Government.”

Issue with the amended clause-

Conservationists has raised objection against the blanket exemption and recommended that it should be limited to temple elephants kept for religious purposes.
Elephant traders may put wild populations at greater risk of capture, and defeat the very purpose of WLPA.

Centre-state conflict over vermin-

Since 1972, the WLPA has identified a few species — fruit bats, common crows and rats — as vermin or nuisance animals that spread diseases or destroy crops and are not protected under the Act.
Killing animals outside this list was allowed under two circumstances:
- Under Section 62 of WLPA, given sufficient reasons, any species other than those accorded the highest legal protection (such as tiger and elephant but not wild boar or nilgai) can be declared vermin at a certain place for a certain time.
- Under Section 11 of WLPA, the chief wildlife warden can allow the killing of an animal irrespective of its status in the Schedules, if it becomes “dangerous to human life”.
The state governments took the decisions under Section 62 until 1991 when an amendment handed these powers to the Centre.
Under Section 11, states could issue culling permits only locally and for a few animals.
Recently, centre has started using its power under section 62 to issue sweeping orders declaring species as vermin at even state levels, often without any credible scientific assessment.
Centre has declared nilgai as vermin in 20 districts of bihar, Rhesus macaque (monkey) as vermin in shimla municipality.
Centre has declined Kerala’s request to declare wild boars as vermin.