New Delhi : The longest ever wildlife derivatives amnesty scheme by the Government of India that ended three days ago seems to have opened a pandora’s box. The little or no publicity to the amnesty scheme except in Delhi , the confusion among the masses about the registration process and the fear of declaring their “illegal” possessions has taken its toll on the Government’s ambitious scheme. Yet, plans by wildlife officials to swoop down on owners of undeclared shahtoosh shawls and other wildlife assets are underway.It is interesting to note that in 1972, when the Wildlife (Protection) Act was constituted, the Government of India gave only 30 days for people to declare derivatives from animals that were part of Schedule I or belonged to part II of Schedule II. However, the government did not ask public to declare Shahtoosh shawls because the connection between the Tibetan Antelope and the shahtoosh was not known then. The Chiru was placed in Schedule I of the act five years later, i..e, in 1977 and it completely banned the hunting of and trading in Schedule I species. Ironically, the real source of the shahtoosh shawl still remained unknown and therefore again the Government did not ask for these shawls to be declared. The link between the shawl and the Chiru came to light only in 1993 when Dr. George Schaller conducted his research in the Chang Tang plateau in the upper reaches of the Tibetan plateau and wrote to Ashok Kumar who headed TRAFFIC-India at that time.

During this amnesty period, even though people had six months to come clean, the scenario across the country seems disturbing. Sources from Haryana report that the Chief Wildlife Warden’s office received just over 100 forms, many of which were submitted by residents of Gurgaon and Faridabad . The derivatives declared include shahtoosh, ivory and a few tiger skins. It is also being said that the authorities there are asking owners of shahtoosh shawls to get their shawls certified from the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. In West Bengal , forms for over 1,200 shahtoosh shawls have been submitted, of which 350 are presented by a well-known industrialist of the state. Unconfirmed reports suggest that he is trying to register another 250 in his son’s name in Mumbai. Unconfirmed reports from Rajasthan suggest that many bureaucrats and industrialists from Delhi are approaching the Wildlife Warden’s office in Jaipur for ownership certificates without any verification ! Punjab too has bad news to offer – close to 150 shawls have been declared from this state where many more are suspected to be hoarded. Apparently, a gentleman from the state has sent a photograph of his glass-door almirah that is stacked up with ivory items. He is said to have admitted that it will be too cumbersome for him to count and photograph each of his ivory collectibles ! Delhi seems to have fared better than most other states and Union Territories . It saw some 6,000 odd declaration forms being submitted of which, 5,000 poured in on the last two days. Of all the declarations, a majority seek to get shahtoosh shawls registered. Yet, it is suspected that many other wildlife products and even wild animals still lie hidden in the national capital.

Despite the poor response from people, the wildlife authorities will go ahead with prosecution of people who have failed to declare. The maximum penalty can be as high as seven years imprisonment and a fine upwards of Rs. 25,000.

The amnesty has generated much apprehension. The chief fear was that wildlife traders could take advantage of the scheme to launder illegally obtained goods. Moreover, all decision making powers were delegated to the Chief Wildlife Wardens of the state governments without any guidelines on the exercise of these powers while decisions from state-to-state could vary. Chandigarh , the capital of two states, is a prime example where differing decisions are possible. For instance, one state can grant ownership for 100 or more shahtoosh shawls per person and another state can put a much lower ceiling. MoEF should ideally ask all the states to tabulate the declarations and then formulate guidelines.

The Wildlife Trust of India has suggested to MoEF a hologram type marking system which cannot be duplicated and will make easy the task of observing the genuineness of declared wildlife derivatives. WTI feels that live animals must not be allowed to be in the possession of private individuals unless the premises are approved by CZA.

“The Amnesty scheme is a bold move which holds great risks to conservation of wildlife. With care, it can become an instrument of extinguishing illegal trade in wildlife and its products. We must not down our guard because mischief makers driven by high profits are waiting to use every ploy”, said Ashok Kumar, Trustee and Senior Advisor, WTI.

The notification follows a two year long campaign by the Wildlife Trust of India and its partner, International Fund for Animal Welfare, against the manufacture and use of shahtoosh, which is made out of the hair of the Tibetan antelope or chiru. The animal is illegally massacred in large numbers by poachers in Tibet . WTI / IFAW had strongly lobbied that an opportunity be given to those owning unregistered shawls to register them provided the shawls were legitimately obtained.