The Elephant of Assam is no longer going to be sufficiently protected from wild capture and enslavement. With Lok Sabha passing the Bill in this form, elephants, a Schedule I animal, who should be afforded the highest level of protection, will now be permitted to be commercially traded and exploited, something that has been globally condemned.

Lok Sabha on Wednesday cleared the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill that aims to ensure ecological and environmental security of the country. The bill eyes for development and environment to go hand in hand so that they are not in conflict with each other. The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, which was introduced in Lok Sabha in December last year, was passed by voice vote after several amendments moved by Opposition members were rejected by the House.

The Bill under Clause 27 will allow any person with a valid ownership certificate to sell an elephant to a person or institution for a religious or any another purpose.

This means the elephant from Assam will be sold to any part of the country and temple, something hitherto not possible for the act.

Organisations like PETA fears that the “any other purpose” phrase of the Clause 27 of the amended act appears to have a limitless meaning, thereby potentially increasing the demand for illegal capture of these animals in the wild.