The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (WLPA) is an Act of the Parliament of India that provides a comprehensive legal framework for the protection of wild animals, birds, and plants, and for the management of their habitats. It was enacted on September 9, 1972, to address the rapid decline of India's wildlife, which was being driven to extinction by rampant poaching, habitat destruction, and an outdated colonial-era law, the Wild Birds and Animals Protection Act, 1912. The problem it solved was the lack of a uniform, strong national law with penalties commensurate with the offense, as the subject was initially on the State List, requiring multiple state legislatures to pass resolutions under Article 252 of the Constitution to enable the Central Government to legislate.
The Act works primarily through a system of Schedules that classify species by the degree of protection they receive, and by establishing Protected Areas. A key provision is the near-total prohibition of hunting wild animals under Section 9, with limited exceptions under Section 11 for animals dangerous to human life or diseased beyond recovery. It also regulates trade and commerce in wild animal products and empowers the Central and State Governments to declare areas as Sanctuaries, National Parks, Conservation Reserves, and Community Reserves. The WLPA connects to the constitutional mandate in Article 48A (Directive Principles of State Policy) and Article 51A(g) (Fundamental Duty) to protect the environment and wildlife, and its foundation was strengthened when the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, moved Forests and Protection of Wild Animals and Birds to the Concurrent List. Related institutions established under the Act include the National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
The Act has changed recently with the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022, which received the President's assent on December 19, 2022. The amendment's primary goal is to align India's law with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The major change was the reduction of the original six Schedules to four: Schedule I (highest protection for animals), Schedule II (lesser protection for animals), Schedule III (protected plants), and Schedule IV (CITES-listed specimens). The amendment also introduced a new Section 62A to empower the Central Government to regulate or prohibit the proliferation of invasive alien species. What stayed the same is the core structure of prohibiting hunting and regulating protected areas, but penalties for violations were also increased.