In this Article, We would like to study about Wildlife protection act,1972.Wildlife protection act ,1972 was enacted in the year 1972. The objective of wildlife protection act are Prevention of poaching of wildlife flora and fauna and prevention of wildlife trafficking.
Protection Under Wildlife Protection Act,1972
Trees, plants, birds, and wildlife have been protected under this act.
There are a total of 6 schedules in the Wildlife Protection Act, in which different wildlife animals and plants are discussed.
Schedule
Schedule 1 has a total of 4 parts, in which different types of organisms are included, such as mammals are included in Part 1, aquatic animals and reptiles in Part 2, birds in Part 3, and crustaceans and insects in Part 4. Apart from this, fish species have been included in Part 2(a).
There are two parts of Schedule II.
There are no parts of Schedules 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Common crows, Mouse, rats, Yadur, etc come in schedule 5.there is no provision of any kind of punishment for hunting them.
Poaching of wildlife included in Schedule I and Part II of Schedule II are included in the highest standard of offense.
The punishment for hunting animals included in Schedules 3 and 4 is lesser.
Schedule 5 includes the wildlife, that can be hunted, there is no provision for any kind of punishment for that.
Schedule 6 includes trees and plants whose cultivation is prohibited.
Indian Star Tortoise
This is a wildlife animal, whoever is found with it can be fined 10,000 rupees and imprisoned for 10 years.
Article 51A(g)
According to this, it shall be the fundamental duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including forests and wildlife.
Important Project of Government for Wildlife Animals
1. Musk Deer Project
- It started in 1970 in Uttarakhand.
- This is a musk deer-related project.
- Perfume is made from a substance found in the gland of the male musk deer, which is called “KASTURI”,Due to which it becomes necessary to protect musk deer because people hunt them for the benefit of their business.
- This project was started from Kedarnath Sanctuary, Uttarakhand with the help of IUCN for the conservation of musk deer.
- Musk deer are found in Kedarnath Sanctuary in Uttarakhand, Shikari Devi Sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh, and Badrinath Sanctuary in Uttarakhand.
2. Project Hangul
- This project was started from Kashmir in the year 1970.
- Hangul is a breed of red deer.
- It is also known as Kashmiri Stag.
- It is found in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
- It is the state animal of Kashmir.
- This project was started in Dachigam National Park with the help of IUCN and WWF.
3. Giri Singh Project
- It was introduced in 1972 from Gir Van National Park in Gujarat.
- Most of the Asiatic lions are naturally found in the Gir Forest National Park.
4. Project tiger
- It was started in 1973 from Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.
- Under this, the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve was created.
- Initially, a total of 9 tiger reserves were created in the entire country.
5. Turtle Conservation Project
- The project started in 1975 from the Bhitarkanika Sanctuary in the state of Odisha.
- Olive Ridley, a species of turtle found in South America, comes to the coast of Odisha every year for breeding.
- This project was mainly started for the conservation of Olive Ridley because IUCN has listed them in the vulnerable list.
- Bhitarkanika Sanctuary is located in Cuttack, Odisha.
- Under this project, a turtle breeding center was opened at Gahirmatha. Gahirmatha is located inside Bhitarkanika Sanctuary.
6. Alligator Breeding Project
- It was started in 1975 in Tikarpada, Odisha with the help of UNDP.
7. Manipur Thamin Project
- It was started in 1977 for the conservation of a very rare species called Thomin found near Loktak Lake in the state of Manipur.
- Thomin is a mammalian species.
8. Rhinoceros Project
- The project was started in 1987 for the conservation of the one-horned rhinoceros.
- It is found in Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park in Assam and Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary in West Bengal.
9. Project Elephant
- It started in 1992 From Singh bhoomi, Jharkhand.
- It is a central project of the Government of India.
- Under this project, Elephant conservation centers have been set up in Periyar Sanctuary, Manas National Park, Kaziranga National Park, Rajaji National Park, and Jim Corbett National Park in India.
10. Red Panda Project
- Red Panda is mainly found in Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh in India.
- The project was started in 1996 at the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in West Bengal.
11. Vulture conservation project
- The project was started in 2006 through an agreement between the Mumbai Natural History Society and the Haryana Forest Department.
- The first vulture breeding center was opened at Dharampur in Assam.
12. Snow leopard project
- This project was started in 2009 from Darjeeling in West Bengal for the protection of this animal found in the snowy region of the Himalayas.
- Leopard Conservation Center is located in Darjeeling.
13. Gangetic Dolphin Conservation Project
- This project started in 1997.
- In 2009, the dolphin was declared the national aquatic animal.
- In 2013, dolphins were declared non-human persons and India became the fourth country after Costa Rica, Hungary, and Chile to do so.
- Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary was built from Sultanganj to Kahalgaon in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar, it is the only safe place in Asia for Gangetic dolphins.
14. Spider House
The country’s first spider house has been opened in Jabalpur.
15. Saras Conservation Center
Uttar Pradesh Government is planning to set up the Saras conservation center in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh.
MCQs On Wildlife protection act:
Q1. Lion-tailed macaque is a …. Species?
i)Extinct
ii)Least concern
iii)Endangered
iv) Critically endangered
Q2. Snow Leopard is the in which category in the Conservative list of IUCN?
i) Vulnerable
ii) Near Threatened
iii) Least concern
iv) Extinct
Q3. How many schedules are there in Wildlife Protection Act,1972?
i)18
ii)10
iii)6
iv)12
Q4. How many Articles are there in Wildlife Protection Act ,1972?
i)72
ii)66
iii)52
iv)22
Q5.Musk Deer is the in which category in the Conservative list of IUCN?
i) Extinct
ii) Endangered
iii) Least concern
iv) Critically Endangered
Q6. Red Panda is the in which category in the Conservative list of IUCN?
i) Least concern
ii) Critically Endangered
iii) Least concern
iv) Endangered
Q7. Gangetic Dolphin is the in which category in the Conservative list of IUCN?
i) Extinct
ii) Vulnerable
iii) Critically Endangered
iv) Endangered
Q8. Royal Bengal Tiger is the in which category in the Conservative list of IUCN?
i) Least concern
ii) Endangered
iii) Vulnerable
iv) Near threatened
Q9. Wild Elephants is the in which category in the Conservative list of IUCN?
i) Extinct
ii) Endangered
iii) Vulnerable
iv) Near threatened
Q10. Olive Ridley turtles is the in which category in the Conservative list of IUCN?
i) Extinct
ii) Conservation dependent
iii) Vulnerable
iv) Endangered
Q11. Project Elephant was started in which year?
i)1972
ii)1973
iii)1982
iv)1992
Q12. In which state was the musk deer project first started?
i)Himachal Pradesh
ii) Arunachal Pradesh
iii) Assam
iv) Uttarakhand
Q13. With whose help was the Musk Dear Project started in 1970?
i) IUCN
ii) WWF
iii) UN
iv) UNESCO
Q14. In which state is Shikari Devi Sanctuary located?
i) Himachal Pradesh
ii) Uttarakhand
iii) Odisha
iv) Assam
Q15. Hangul is the state animal of which state?
i) Himachal Pradesh
ii) Uttarakhand
iii) Arunachal Pradesh
iv) Jammu and Kashmir
Q16. When and from which state was Project Tiger started?
i) 1973 & Uttarakhand
ii) 1973 & Himachal Pradesh
iii) 1973 & Gujarat
iv) 1973 and Madhya Pradesh
Q17. Which was the first tiger reserve of India?
i) Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
ii) Bandipur Tiger Reserve
iii) Ranthambor tiger Reserve
iv)Simlipal Tiger Reserve
Q18.How many Tiger Reserve are there in India as of March 2023?
i) 50
ii) 51
iii) 52
iv)53
Q19. Guru Ghasidas Tiger Reserve is located in Which State?
i) Jharkhand
ii) Madhya Pradesh
iii) Chhattisgarh
iv) Odisha
Q20. Rhinoceros Project was launched in which year?
i) 1992
ii) 1987
iii) 1982
iv) 1981