Untitled Document

Licensing and the Law

WildLife Protection Act, 1972, (with amendments.) This Act is a national law and is applicable to all States except Jammu and Kashmir. State governments may not amend or change this national law. The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, was designed “to afford protection to certain species of wildlife as were from time to time included in the various Schedules of the Act.”

According to Chapter V of this Act, if any animal listed on Schedule I or II, is held captive by any individual, it should first be declared to the Chief Wildlife Warden under Section 41.1. The Chief Wildlife Warden may “for the purposes of Sec.40, issue a certificate of ownership in such form as maybe prescribed, to any person who is, in his opinion, in lawful possession of any wild animal....” However Section 43 regulates the transfer of the animal and says such a Certificate may be given on the condition the captive animal is neither sold nor gifted nor used to make into animal articles, or trophies. It also forbids the transfer of the animal from State to State without the previously acquired permission of the Chief wildlife warden. Each time the animal changes hands “a fresh certificate of ownership “ has to be executed. So too Sec.44 refers to those dealing in animals and says a dealer’s license is needed before he trades in animals. Also the law makes proviso for the fact that no license may be granted unless the Chief Wildlife Warden or authorized officer has studied “the implication which the grant of such a license would have on the status of wildlife...” Lastly the license will be “valid for one year from the date of its grant; not be transferable; and be renewable for a period not exceeding one year at a time.” Under the law as stated in Chapter V, the person holding captive a Schedule I animal can be imprisoned or / and fined; the animal can be seized and removed from his possession; “cancellation of license or permit” shall be in addition to the above punishments.

Over the last one and a half years of this investigation eight such seizures had taken place along the route the investigators had visited. The affected Kalandars were interviewed and questionnaires administered. In all but two cases the bears were kept in zoos and died within a few months of being confiscated. The two bears were returned to their owners. One continues to live at Jaipur Zoo under distressingly miserable conditions. These episodes have made the Kalandar question the validity of a law which discriminates against their use of the bear in an age old tradition: but still permits circuses, private menageries and zoos to keep these animals in worse conditions and without any strict policing.

It must also be emphasized that in spite of the existence of these laws the capture and trade of bears as well as other forms of wildlife goes on at well known animal markets and fairs in India.

The Kalandars for a long time plied their trade without licenses although the Law making it. mandatory for them to have a license was passed in 1972. The licenses issued to the Kalandars and examined by us numbered close to 115. By and large, they were all dated between 1979 to 1992. No licenses were to be issued after 1992 allowing the acquisition / possession of a dancing bear. The Himalayan Black Bear, the Sun Bear, and the Sloth Bear have all been placed on Schedule 1 as highly vulnerable species. Any trade in their parts is forbidden. Any buying and selling of them for entertainment and for use as private pets is forbidden. Hence the issue of fresh Licenses to the Kalandars to dance these bears was also forbidden. Neither were renewals granted for old Licenses previously issued. The Kalandars continue to dance the bears on their old licenses although renewal has not been granted after 1992.

.State Laws / Municipality / Forest Officers/ Police: Sample licenses have been attached in the Appendices. It will be noted that the Kalandar not only gets a letter / permit to dance his bear from the Assistant Conservator of Forests, but also applies to the municipality of the city / town he resides in, to the effect that he can use that animal to entertain and keep as a pet, and that it would in no way injure the health of the public. So too he has to register himself at the nearest police station where he receives a character certificate and a permit to dance his bear. In some States a forest officer can give these certificates. It is on the strength of these permits issued by local authorities that the Kalandar is still able to dance his bears. The Kalandar estimates he spends Rs 3000 approximately, in unrecorded payments, in order to get his permits. There is no uniform format to the license. After examining over 115 licenses given by Assistant Conservators from over eight cities, one observes that each license is worded differently. Some licenses state the physical description of the bear, others specify the licensee cannot sell the animal or use its parts when dead. The license issued by certain other States specify that the animal has to be fed, medicated and maintained with care or the licensee is liable to be prosecuted. Others quote the Wildlife Act Sec.40 but include no details of the animal for which the license was issued. Sometimes the license issued for a bear also permits the licensee to “entertain or dance” monkeys and “keep Deer etc.” as “pets”. There is no proper record with the functionaries who issued these licenses and therefore no estimate could be made of how many licenses have actually been issued over the last 24 years since this Wildlife Act came into force and for how many animals.

Confrontation between Bear owner and the Law: The Kalandars are illiterate and without any formal schooling. As such the Survey Questionnaire revealed that the Kalandars were not aware of the Wildlife Act and the withdrawal of licenses, till 1993, when they were suddenly refused renewals of their licenses in certain States. Since then the harassment from the police and the municipality has increased because the Kalandars find they now have to pay higher amounts to renew their permits and.escape from the clutches of the police and the forest department when caught on the road or in towns, while dancing their bears.

Interestingly, if a Kalandar settlement had a strong head / panch he could appeal to the local authorities and get renewed permits for his Kalandars to dance their bears within a designated area. This was the case with BV19, BV23 and BV24. In two other settlements influential businessmen and Owners of local hotels had requested the local authorities to permit a certain number of Kalandars to perform at their hotels to entertain their guests. This form of patronage also worked well but there was no way by which the Kalandar could avail of such protection while on the road. The Survey Questionnaire revealed that this increased policing by the forest officials, the police, and members of animal welfare organizations had severely cut into the Kalandar‘s earnings.

From the cross sampling provided by the questionnaires, the Kalandars are aggressively hostile to a Law which they see as depriving them of a livelihood. This anger is aggravated by the insensitivity of a government which has failed to provide any of the basic human necessities to a reserved OBC group. They are open to any rehabilitation programme which replaces their earnings through their animals in a consistent and reliable fashion. Since the beginning of this two year long study the Kalandars have mobilised themselves into a highly aggressive and articulate group. They have formed their own society; learnt to use the press for effective exposure of their poverty; they led their clan on a mammoth Rally well covered by the media, where they presented the then Prime Minister, Mr. DeveGowda with a petition requesting he give them alternate means of livelihood before he snatched their bears away. They have learnt to hire lawyers to fight their cases in court when bears are confiscated. It must be emphasized the Kalandar is willing to change his profession if he receives some practical solution to his problems of unemployment, lack of housing and water, schooling and medical aid.




	Licensing and the Law	Contents

	WildLife Protection Act, 1972, (with amendments.) This Act is a national law and is applicable to all States except Jammu and Kashmir. State governments may not amend or change this national law. The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, was designed “to afford protection to certain species of wildlife as were from time to time included in the various Schedules of the Act.” According to Chapter V of this Act, if any animal listed on Schedule I or II, is held captive by any individual, it should first be declared to the Chief Wildlife Warden under Section 41.1. The Chief Wildlife Warden may “for the purposes of Sec.40, issue a certificate of ownership in such form as maybe prescribed, to any person who is, in his opinion, in lawful possession of any wild animal....” However Section 43 regulates the transfer of the animal and says such a Certificate may be given on the condition the captive animal is neither sold nor gifted nor used to make into animal articles, or trophies. It also forbids the transfer of the animal from State to State without the previously acquired permission of the Chief wildlife warden. Each time the animal changes hands “a fresh certificate of ownership “ has to be executed. So too Sec.44 refers to those dealing in animals and says a dealer’s license is needed before he trades in animals. Also the law makes proviso for the fact that no license may be granted unless the Chief Wildlife Warden or authorized officer has studied “the implication which the grant of such a license would have on the status of wildlife...” Lastly the license will be “valid for one year from the date of its grant; not be transferable; and be renewable for a period not exceeding one year at a time.” Under the law as stated in Chapter V, the person holding captive a Schedule I animal can be imprisoned or / and fined; the animal can be seized and removed from his possession; “cancellation of license or permit” shall be in addition to the above punishments. Over the last one and a half years of this investigation eight such seizures had taken place along the route the investigators had visited. The affected Kalandars were interviewed and questionnaires administered. In all but two cases the bears were kept in zoos and died within a few months of being confiscated. The two bears were returned to their owners. One continues to live at Jaipur Zoo under distressingly miserable conditions. These episodes have made the Kalandar question the validity of a law which discriminates against their use of the bear in an age old tradition: but still permits circuses, private menageries and zoos to keep these animals in worse conditions and without any strict policing. It must also be emphasized that in spite of the existence of these laws the capture and trade of bears as well as other forms of wildlife goes on at well known animal markets and fairs in India. The Kalandars for a long time plied their trade without licenses although the Law making it. mandatory for them to have a license was passed in 1972. The licenses issued to the Kalandars and examined by us numbered close to 115. By and large, they were all dated between 1979 to 1992. No licenses were to be issued after 1992 allowing the acquisition / possession of a dancing bear. The Himalayan Black Bear, the Sun Bear, and the Sloth Bear have all been placed on Schedule 1 as highly vulnerable species. Any trade in their parts is forbidden. Any buying and selling of them for entertainment and for use as private pets is forbidden. Hence the issue of fresh Licenses to the Kalandars to dance these bears was also forbidden. Neither were renewals granted for old Licenses previously issued. The Kalandars continue to dance the bears on their old licenses although renewal has not been granted after 1992.
	.State Laws / Municipality / Forest Officers/ Police: Sample licenses have been attached in the Appendices. It will be noted that the Kalandar not only gets a letter / permit to dance his bear from the Assistant Conservator of Forests, but also applies to the municipality of the city / town he resides in, to the effect that he can use that animal to entertain and keep as a pet, and that it would in no way injure the health of the public. So too he has to register himself at the nearest police station where he receives a character certificate and a permit to dance his bear. In some States a forest officer can give these certificates. It is on the strength of these permits issued by local authorities that the Kalandar is still able to dance his bears. The Kalandar estimates he spends Rs 3000 approximately, in unrecorded payments, in order to get his permits. There is no uniform format to the license. After examining over 115 licenses given by Assistant Conservators from over eight cities, one observes that each license is worded differently. Some licenses state the physical description of the bear, others specify the licensee cannot sell the animal or use its parts when dead. The license issued by certain other States specify that the animal has to be fed, medicated and maintained with care or the licensee is liable to be prosecuted. Others quote the Wildlife Act Sec.40 but include no details of the animal for which the license was issued. Sometimes the license issued for a bear also permits the licensee to “entertain or dance” monkeys and “keep Deer etc.” as “pets”. There is no proper record with the functionaries who issued these licenses and therefore no estimate could be made of how many licenses have actually been issued over the last 24 years since this Wildlife Act came into force and for how many animals.

	Confrontation between Bear owner and the Law: The Kalandars are illiterate and without any formal schooling. As such the Survey Questionnaire revealed that the Kalandars were not aware of the Wildlife Act and the withdrawal of licenses, till 1993, when they were suddenly refused renewals of their licenses in certain States. Since then the harassment from the police and the municipality has increased because the Kalandars find they now have to pay higher amounts to renew their permits and.escape from the clutches of the police and the forest department when caught on the road or in towns, while dancing their bears. Interestingly, if a Kalandar settlement had a strong head / panch he could appeal to the local authorities and get renewed permits for his Kalandars to dance their bears within a designated area. This was the case with BV19, BV23 and BV24. In two other settlements influential businessmen and Owners of local hotels had requested the local authorities to permit a certain number of Kalandars to perform at their hotels to entertain their guests. This form of patronage also worked well but there was no way by which the Kalandar could avail of such protection while on the road. The Survey Questionnaire revealed that this increased policing by the forest officials, the police, and members of animal welfare organizations had severely cut into the Kalandar‘s earnings. From the cross sampling provided by the questionnaires, the Kalandars are aggressively hostile to a Law which they see as depriving them of a livelihood. This anger is aggravated by the insensitivity of a government which has failed to provide any of the basic human necessities to a reserved OBC group. They are open to any rehabilitation programme which replaces their earnings through their animals in a consistent and reliable fashion. Since the beginning of this two year long study the Kalandars have mobilised themselves into a highly aggressive and articulate group. They have formed their own society; learnt to use the press for effective exposure of their poverty; they led their clan on a mammoth Rally well covered by the media, where they presented the then Prime Minister, Mr. DeveGowda with a petition requesting he give them alternate means of livelihood before he snatched their bears away. They have learnt to hire lawyers to fight their cases in court when bears are confiscated. It must be emphasized the Kalandar is willing to change his profession if he receives some practical solution to his problems of unemployment, lack of housing and water, schooling and medical aid.
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