Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972

2. Definitions

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-

(1) "animal" includes amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles and their young, and also includes, in the cases of birds and reptiles, their eggs;

(2) "animal article" means an article made from any captive animal or wild animal, other than vermin, and includes an article or object in which the whole or any part of such animal ⁵[has been used, and ivory imported into India and an article made there from];

⁶ [***]

(4) "Board" means the Wild Life Advisory Board constituted under sub-section (1) of section 6;

(5) "captive animal" means any animal, specified in Schedule I, Schedule II, Schedule III or Schedule IV, which is captured or kept or bred in captivity;

⁶ [***]

(7) "Chief Wild Life Warden" means the person appointed as such under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 4;

⁷ [(7A) "circus" means an establishment, whether stationary or mobile, where animals are kept or used wholly or mainly for the purpose of performing tricks or manoeuvres;]

(8) "closed area" means the area which is declared under sub-section (1) of section 37 to be closed to hunting;

(9) "Collector" means the chief officer in charge of the revenue administration of a district;

(10) "commencement of this Act", in relation to-

(a) a State, means commencement of this Act in that State,

(b) any provision of this Act, means the commencement of that provision in the concerned State;

(11) "dealer" means any person who carries on the business of buying and selling any captive animal, animal article, trophy, uncured trophy ⁵[meat or specified plant];

(12) "Director" means the person appointed as Director of Wild Life Preservation under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 3;

⁷ [(12A) "Forest Officer" means the Forest Officer appointed under clause (2) of section 2 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927;]

⁸ [***]

(14) "Government property" means any property referred to in section 39; ⁷[or section 17H;]

(15) "habitat" includes land, water or vegetation which is the natural home of any wild animal;

(16) "hunting", with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, includes,-

(a) capturing, killing, poisoning, snaring and trapping of any wild animal and every attempt to do so,

(b) driving any wild animal for any of the purposes specified in sub-clause (a),

(c) injuring or destroying or taking any part of the body of any such animal or, in the case of wild birds or reptiles, damaging the eggs of such birds or reptiles or disturbing the eggs or nests of such birds or reptiles;

(17) "land" includes canals, creeks and other water channels, reservoirs, rivers, streams and lakes, whether artificial or natural, ⁵[marshes and wetlands and also includes boulders and rocks];

(18) "license" means a license granted under this Act;

⁷ [(18A) "live stock" includes buffaloes, bulls, bullocks, camels, cows, donkeys, goats, horses, mules, pigs, sheep’s, yaks and also includes their young;]

(19) "manufacturer" means a manufacturer of animal articles;

(20) "meat" includes blood, bones, sinew, eggs, fat and flesh, whether raw or cooked, of any wild animal, other than vermin;

(21) "National Park" means an area declared, whether under section 35 or section 38, or deemed, under sub-section (3) of section 66, to be declared, as a National Park;

(22) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette;

(23) "permit" means a permit granted under this Act or any rule made thereunder;

(24) "person" includes a firm;

(25) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

⁷ [(25A) "recognized zoo" means a zoo recognized under section 38H;

(25B) "reserve forest" means the forest declared to be reserved by the State Government under section 20 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927);]

(26) "sanctuary" means an area declared, whether under section ⁵[26A] or section 38, or deemed, under sub-section (3) of section 66, to be declared, as a wild life sanctuary;

⁵ [(27) "specified plant" means any plant specified in Schedule VI;]

(28) "special game" means any animal specified in Schedule II;

(29) "State Government", in relation to a Union territory, means the Administrator of that Union territory appointed by the President under article 239 of the Constitution;

(30) "taxidermy", with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means the curing, preparation or preservation of trophies;

⁷ [(30A) "territorial waters" shall have the same meaning as in section 3 of the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and other Maritime Zones Act, 1976 (80 of 1976);]

(31) "trophy" means the whole or any part of any captive animal or wild animal, other than vermin, which has been kept or preserved by any means, whether artificial or natural, and includes-

(a) rugs, skins and specimens of such animal mounted in whole or in part through a process of taxidermy, and

(b) antler, horn, rhinoceros horn, hair, feather, nail, tooth, musk, eggs and nests;

(32) "uncured trophy" means the whole or any part of any captive animal or wild animal, other than vermin, which has not undergone a process of taxidermy, and includes a ⁵[freshly killed wild animal, ambergris, musk and other animal products];

(33) "vehicle" means any conveyance used for movement on land, water or air and includes buffalo, bull, bullock, camel, donkey, elephant, horse and mule;

(34) "vermin" means any wild animal specified in Schedule V;

(35) "weapon" includes ammunition, bows and arrows, explosives, firearms, hooks, knives, nets, poison, snares and traps and any instrument or apparatus capable of anaesthetizing, decoying, destroying, injuring or killing an animal;

(36) "wild animal" means any animal found wild in nature and includes any animal specified in Schedule I, Schedule II, Schedule III, Schedule IV or Schedule V, wherever found;

(37) "wild life" includes any animal, bees, butterflies, crustacea, fish and moths; and aquatic or land vegetation which form part of any habitat;

(38) "Wild Life Warden" means the person appointed as such under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 4;

⁷ [(39) "Zoo" means an establishment, whether stationary or mobile, where captive animals are kept for exhibition to the public but does not include a circus and an establishment of a licensed dealer in captive animals.]

Back

Index

Next