Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972

For the 2010 statute of the government of the District of Columbia, see Wildlife Protection Act of 2010.

The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
Parliament of India
  • An Act to provide for the protection of Wild animals, birds and plants and for matters connected therewith or ancillary or incidental thereto.
CitationAct No. 53 of 1972
Enacted byParliament of India
Enacted9 September 1972
Status: In force

The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted for the protection of plants and animal species. Before 1972, India had only five designated national parks. Among other reforms, the Act established scheduled protected plant and hunting certain animal species or harvesting these species was largely outlawed.[1] The Act provides for the protection of wild animals, birds and plants; and for matters connected or incidental thereto. It extends to the whole of India.

It has six schedules which give varying degrees of protection. Schedule I and part II of Schedule II provide absolute protection - offences under these are prescribed the highest penalties. Species listed in Schedule III and Schedule IV are also protected, but the penalties are much lower. Animals under Schedule V (e.g. common crows, fruit bats, rats, and mice) are legally considered vermin and may be hunted freely.[2] The specified endemic plants in Schedule VI are prohibited from cultivation and planting. The Enforcement authorities have the power to compound offences under this Schedule (i.e. they impose fines on the offenders). Up to April 2010, there have been 16 convictions under this act relating to the death of tigers.

  1. ^ "WILDLIFE(PROTECTION) ACT, MINISTRY OF LAW" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  2. ^ Sinha, Samir (2010). Handbook on wildlife law enforcement in India (PDF). TRAFFIC India, WWF-India. New Delhi: Natraj Publishers. p. 117. ISBN 978-81-8158-134-1. OCLC 606355728. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 November 2020.