Elephants' Preservation Act, 1879

The Elephants' Preservation Act, 1879 protects wild elephants from being killed, injured, or captured except in narrow, defined circumstances. It applies only where a Provincial Government has extended it to a particular local area by notification, and it no longer applies in Punjab or the Islamabad Capital Territory, where it has been separately repealed.

Section 3 prohibits killing, injuring, or capturing a wild elephant unless it is done in self-defence or defence of another person, the elephant is found damaging houses or crops or is near a main public road, railway, or canal, or the person holds a licence under the Act. Section 4 makes any wild elephant captured, or the tusks of one killed, by an unlicensed person the property of the Government.

Section 5 lets the Collector or Deputy Commissioner of a district grant licences to kill or capture wild elephants, though a licence never authorises entering someone's land without the owner's or occupier's consent. Section 6 lets the Provincial Government declare which roads and canals count as "main" for the Act's purposes, and make rules on granting and renewing licences, the fees payable (which can be in money, tusks, or captured elephants), how long licences last, and any other conditions.

Section 7 sets penalties: killing, injuring, or capturing a wild elephant in violation of Section 3 carries a fine of up to five hundred rupees per elephant, and breaking a licence condition carries the same fine; a second offence carries imprisonment up to six months, or a fine, or both, and a convicted licence-holder's licence becomes void and must be surrendered. Section 8 lets Revenue, Police, or Forest officers demand that anyone found dealing with a wild elephant produce their licence, with a fine up to one hundred rupees for wilful refusal or inability to do so.

This is one of the oldest laws in the corpus, dating to 1879, and its fine amounts (five hundred and one hundred rupees) clearly reflect nineteenth-century values rather than anything current; Section 9 requires prosecutions to start within six months of the offence. Given its age and the fact it has already been repealed in some regions, readers should check whether it remains in force in their specific area and consult current wildlife protection law for up-to-date figures.