PUNE: Wildlife conservationist Merwyn Fernandes on Saturday called for laws to check the illegal trade of exotic foreign bird and animal species and said that without such a regulation, the sale of these animals would continue unabated.
Fernandes, as coordinator, programmes for anti-wildlife trafficking organization Traffic India, works towards finding and cracking down on nexuses of such illegal trade as a partner for World Wildlife Fund (WWF) India. He spoke to TOI on the sidelines of the 11th KirloskarVasundhara International Film Festival being held in the city.
Fernandes said, " At present there is no regulation or law that protects exotic species or wildlife that is not native to India from illegal trade within the country . India is a signatory to an international schedule for protection of wildlife from such illicit trade. However, there is no provision in the country's Wildlife Protection Act for such a schedule of exotic species. It only contains species native to India."
In effect, there is nothing that authorities can do even if they find people trading in such exotic species. "There are some who have already imported such species and are breeding them in the country . If they are caught, there is no law to book them under. They can freely continue their trade until such a law is put in place," he explained. There is also the issue of ownership prior to a species being listed on the schedule. "Once such an animal is brought into the country and the owner has proof of purchase, the owner has to be let go. As the animal is considered to be the private property of that person," Fernandes said.
This laxity in the law has led to spread of illegal trade of various exotic species. "The most popular exotic species that people like to keep as pets are parrots, parakeets and various types of turtles and tortoises and other reptiles." he said.
