Deadline to declare and register exotic animals to expire Aug 28, says environment ministry
The environment ministry, on February 28, notified the Living Animal Species (Reporting and Registration) Rules, 2024 through a gazette notification
The deadline for various individuals, organisations and zoos to declare and register exotic animals is set to expire on August 28, the Union environment ministry said on Tuesday.
The environment ministry, on February 28, notified the Living Animal Species (Reporting and Registration) Rules, 2024 through a gazette notification.
According to these rules, every person who is in possession of any living specimen of species listed in Schedule IV of the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972, is required to report the details of such animals and submit an application for registration electronically through the PARIVESH 2.0 portal to the Chief Wild Life Warden of the concerned State, within a period of six months from the issue of gazette notification and or within thirty days of possession of such animal species.
“The six-month period would expire on August 28, 2024. Therefore, all the concerned persons are required to take expeditious action to report such possessions to the concerned Chief Wild Life Warden, through PARIVESH 2.0 portal to avoid any penal actions for non-compliance,” a statement by the ministry said on Tuesday.
Wildlife and animal rights experts have been critical of ministry’s stance of providing an amnesty period of six months in 2020 to voluntarily disclose the possession of any exotic species by individuals or private organisations. These rules have further formalised or regularised the possession of these species, they said.
In India, several species are listed in the Wild Life (protection) Act, 1972 and are protected.
However, exotic species are imported to India and bred in captivity without proper registration. “Considering this, the Ministry had issued an Advisory in June, 2020 for Voluntary Disclosure of Exotic Live Species, with the objectives of creating a unified information system of the stock of exotic live species at the State/Central level through voluntary disclosure and the use of that database towards controlling and management of zoonotic diseases, and for facilitating better management of the species and providing guidance to their holders for their proper care and well-being,” a note by the ministry states.
A total of 32,645 individuals voluntarily declared that they were in possession of exotic and native species from June to December 2020. The disclosures are not public.
Thereafter, the Wildlife Protection Amendment Act 2022 made provisions for implementation of CITES and formally registering possession of exotic animals in government’s database.
Activists have pointed to a spurt in smuggling of endangered, exotic animals from Southeast Asia and other parts of the world in the past one year which have allegedly been transferred to other parts of the country to private collectors.
“There has been a very unusual spurt in seizures of exotic animals from Assam and Mizoram including Kangaroos, Koalas, Moor Macaque, Spider Monkeys, Lemurs, baby Orangutans and what not. These were seized and placed in Guwahati zoo and then taken elsewhere because the zoo couldn’t keep them according to officials. To make way for transfer of these animals , every rule, regulation has been bent,” Mubina Akhtar, wildlife activist and member of the Kaziranga Wildlife Society said on April 5.
“With the last amendment to the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, exotic species listed under CITES were included in Schedule IV. The Living Animal Species (Reporting and Registration) Rules, notified on 28th February 2024, require anyone possessing these animals to register them with the MoEFCC within six months. This latest notice is a reminder to comply before the 28th August deadline, as failure to do so will result in penal action,” said Debadityo Sinha, Lead- Climate & Ecosystems, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy on Tuesday.