The Wildlife Protection Amendment Bill 2013, tabled in Parliament, broadens the meaning of trapping by to any device designed to restrain or capture an animal. Although there is a proviso that says the chief wildlife warden (CWLW) may permit the use of traps (except steel traps) to safeguard agricultural crops and property of farmers. So, henceforth, any trap for even trapping vermin, will need to be produced, kept, sold, etc with the permission of CWLW. The Act also broadens definition of animals to include any creature found in the wild. This has led some to wonder if fishermen or fish vendors would also need a licence to operate.

The new Bill also includes 'electrocuting' a wild animal as an offence. It also raises imprisonment term for killing a wild animal from three to five and seven years with a fine not less than Rs 1 lakh which may be extended to Rs 25 lakh and Rs 50 lakh for second or subsequent offences. The new amendment also changes the definition of wildlife which, experts fear, will have far-reaching implications.

A section of experts were worried about possible abuse of Bill. They said many traps were hard to define. "A snare, for example, is only a length of wire looped in a particular way. A person with a simple 2-wheeler clutch wire could be arrested," said G B Mahure of Bor Foundation.

Avinash Basker, legal programme officer of Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), Delhi, said including electrocuting in the Bill was a good thing as several animals are killed each year from electrocution. Poaching, especially of herbivores for meat, is often done using dangerous electrocution traps. While it is illegal anyway, this will clarify the situation.

On more stringent punishment, Basker said currently an offence involving a Schedule I or Part II of Schedule II species carried a penalty of three to seven years imprisonment and a fine of not less than Rs 10,000. "The increase in penalties for these offences is a good move if it increases the deterrent. However, we have seen that in certain cases judges have convicted the accused but have not sentenced them to even mandatory minimum terms," he said.

"One hopes the increase in penalties does not result in fewer convictions stemming from judges' reluctance to sentence the accused to longer terms," Basker added. On the amendment of declaring new sanctuaries in consultation with Gram Sabha, Basker said the words used in the Bill are consultation with 'the gram sabha concerned'. "If gram sabhas have forest rights in a particular area, it is likely they would be considered as being concerned with the declaration of that area as a protected area," he said.

Nitin Desai, Central India director of WPSI, allayed fears of ban on all types of traps. "Earlier enforcement agencies were helpless in prosecuting poachers when snares and traps were seized. However, with the new provision, the culprits can be stopped. This would go a long way in preventing wildlife crime," he said. He also hailed the inclusion of electrocution as an offence. "This is the most prevalent method of poaching wild animals in Central India. On occasions, tigers and leopards die after coming in contact with live wire traps laid for herbivores," he added.

New amendments, repercussions

Penalty and imprisonment

Offence related to any animal specified in Schedule I or Part II of Schedule II or the meat or article and trophy derived from such animal, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than five years but that may extend to seven years and also with fine not less than Rs 1 lakh and up to Rs 25 lakh. In the case of a second or subsequent offence, the jail term shall not be less than seven years and fine not less than Rs 5 lakh up to Rs 50 lakh. Earlier, the jail was three to seven years with a fine of Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000.

Electrocution

The act of 'electrocuting' an animal was not explicitly covered under the definition of hunting. Now, the word 'electrocuting' has been inserted into Section 216 (b) after word trapping. The amended Act explicitly makes electrocuting an animal a punishable offence.

Traps

In the new amendment 'animal trap' means any device designed to restrain or capture an animal including a leg-hold trap device that usually works by means of jaws that close tightly upon one or more of the animal's limbs. It will now also include even wire snares. The new law bans sale, manufacture and use of these traps and will also regulate their possession as well.

Zoos

Section 38C of the Act relates to functions of Central Zoo Authority (CZA) will be amended. A new clause enables the authority to supervise the overall functioning of zoos and authorize the chief wildlife warden (CWLW) concerned to supervise the zoo. Till now (CWLW) had no supervisory role.

New sanctuaries

In Section 35 of the principal Act, state government intention to constitute any area that falls under the scheduled areas as a national park or sanctuary will be in consultation with gram sabha concerned.

Wildlife definition

The Bill proposes to amend definition so that a wild animal will mean "any animal specified in Schedules I to IV or found wild in nature". The term 'animal' is defined very broadly by Section 2 (1) of the Act to include "mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, other chordates and invertebrates and also their young and eggs." If the definition of wild animal is changed as proposed, any animal found wild in nature will be considered a 'wild animal' under the Act. Thus all fish (outside of those bred and kept in captivity in fish farms) will be considered as wild animals and will come under the purview of certain provisions in Chapter V of the Act. Accordingly, as per Section 44 of the Act, no person will be allowed to sell fish, or cook it and serve it unless he has a licence from the CWLW.