The Bangladesh Wild Life (Preservation) Order, 1973 (President's Order)

WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the preservation, conservation and management of wild life in Bangladesh; NOW, THEREFORE, in pursuance of paragraph 3 of the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, and in exercise of all powers enabling him in that behalf, the President is pleased to make the following Order:-

(1) This Order may be called the Bangladesh Wild Life (Preservation) Order, 1973.

(2) It extends to the whole of Bangladesh.

(3) It shall come into force at once.

In this Order, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-

(a) “capture” means the taking alive of any wild animal;

(b) “dealer”, in relation ¹to wild animals, trophies or meat, means any person who, in course of trade or business carried on by him whether on his own behalf or on behalf of any other person,-

(i) sells, purchases or barters ²any wild animal, trophy or meat; or

(ii) cuts, carves, polishes, preserves, cleans, mounts or otherwise prepares ³any wild animal's trophy or meat; or

(iii) manufactures any article from trophies or meat;

(c) “game reserve” means an area declared by the Government as such for the protection of wild life and increase in the population of important species wherein capturing of wild animals shall be unlawful;

(d) “Government” means the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh;

(e) “hunt” means-

(i) killing, capturing, poisoning, snaring and trapping of any wild animal and any attempt to do so; or

(ii) driving any wild animal for any of the purposes specified in sub-clause (i); or

(iii) injuring or destroying or taking any part of the body of such wild animal or taking of nests or eggs of wild birds and ⁴reptiles;

(f) “licence”, “special licence”, “permit” and “special permit” mean, respectively, a licence, a special licence, a permit or a special permit granted or issued under this Order or the rules made thereunder;

(g) “meat” means fat, blood, flesh or any edible part of ⁵a wild animal, whether fresh or preserved;

(h) “national park” means comparatively large areas of outstanding scenic and natural beauty with the primary object of protection and preservation of scenery, flora and fauna in the natural state to which access for public recreation and education and research may be allowed;

(i) “offence” means an offence punishable under this Order ⁶or any rule made thereunder;

(j) “officer” means any person appointed in this behalf to carry out all or any of the purposes of this Order or to do anything required by this Order or any rule made thereunder to be done by an officer, and includes a Forest Officer as defined in clause (2) of section 2 of the Forest Act, 1927 (Act No. XVI of 1927), and ⁷such other persons as may be authorised by the Government to carry out such purpose or to do such thing as the Government may specify;

(k) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Order;

(l) “private game reserve” means an area or private land set aside by the owner thereof for the same purpose as a game reserve and declared as such under Article 24;

(m) “schedule” means a Schedule appended to this Order;

(n) “trophy” means any ⁸dead wild animal or any horn, antler, tooth, tusk, bone, claw, hoof, skin, hair, feather, egg, shell or other durable part of ⁹a wild animal whether or not included in a manufactured or processed article;

(o) “wild animal” means any vertebrate creature, other than human beings and animals of usually domesticated species or fish, and includes the eggs of birds and reptiles; and

(p) “wild life sanctuary” means an area, closed to hunting, shooting or trapping of wild animals and declared as such under Article 23 by the Government as undisturbed breeding ground primarily for the protection of wild life inclusive of all natural resources, such as vegetation, soil, and water.

(1) The Government may, for the purposes of this Order, appoint such officers and honorary officers to assist the officers as it considers necessary.

(2) Except as otherwise prescribed, an honorary officer shall exercise all the powers of an officer and shall hold office for a period of three years unless his appointment is earlier revoked.

(1) As soon as may be, after the coming into force of this Order, the Government shall constitute, by notification in the official Gazette, a Board, to be called as the Bangladesh Wild Life Advisory Board, consisting of such members as the Government may deem necessary to appoint.

(2) The Bangladesh Wild Life Advisory Board shall perform such functions as the Government may assign to it.

(1) The wild animals specified in the First Schedule ¹⁰* * shall be known as “game animals” and shall not be hunted, killed or captured, save in accordance with the terms of a permit ¹¹ * *.

(2) The wild animals specified in the Third Schedule ¹²* * * shall be known as “Protected Animals” and shall not be hunted, killed or captured save as otherwise expressly provided in this Order.

(1) No person shall –

(a) (i) hunt any wild animal by means of a set-gun, drop spear, deadfall, gun trap, an explosive projectile bomb, grenade, electrical contrivances, a baited hook or any other trap whatsoever;

(ii) hunt any game animal by means of an automatic weapon of a calibre, used by the Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Rifle or Police Force, a shot gun, rifle of 22 calibre or less, or a projectile containing any drug or chemical substance having the property of anesthetising, paralysing, stupifying or rendering ¹³a wild animal crippled whether partly or totally;

(b) (i) use any motor vehicle, motor driven vessel, watercraft of any type or aircraft or any other manually or mechanically propelled vehicle of any type to pursue any game animal, or to drive or stampede game animals for any purpose whatsoever;

(ii) use or have in his possession any poison or like injurious substance for the purpose of hunting a game animal;

(iii) shoot any game animal from any aircraft, motor vehicle, rail trolley cart, boats or any kind of watercraft or any other conveyance;

(iv) hunt with the help of live decoys, call birds or any other artificial contrivances;

(c) construct or use or have in his possession any pitfall, game pit, trench or similar excavation or any fence or enclosure, or set fire to any vegetation or any other contrivance for the purpose of hunting any game animal.

(2) It shall not be an offence to use a motor vehicle or aircraft to drive any wild animal away from an aerodrome or airstrip when such action is necessary to ensure the safety of aircraft using that aerodrome.

(3) ¹⁴An officer may grant capture licence and allow employment of a method of hunting specified in clause (1).

No person shall possess or use Hawks for hawking, or possess or use dogs for coursing, the game animals specified in the First Schedule except under a special licence ¹⁵* * *.

(1) If, in any place, any wild animal whether protected or game animal or meat or trophy of such wild animal which is found dead or dying or which has been killed or caught or bred in captivity or kept in possession of any body by any means otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Order shall be the property of the Government.

(2) No person shall, by any means, acquire or keep in his possession or custody or control, or transfer to any person by way of gift or sale, or destroy, or otherwise damage, such Government property without previous written permission from the ¹⁶* * * officer.

¹⁷(1) Any person having the control, custody or possession of any wild animal or meat or trophy of any wild animal shall, within such period as the Government may by notification in the official Gazette specify, declare to an officer ¹⁸* * * the number and description of such wild animal, meat or trophy and the place where it is kept.

(2) On receipt of such declaration, the ¹⁹* * officer shall enter upon the premises of such person in the prescribed manner and such person shall produce the declared wild animal, meat or trophy for inspection and verification before such officer; and if the declaration is found correct, the ²⁰ * * officer shall fix upon or put such mark of registration on such wild animal, meat or trophy as may be prescribed as lawful possession.

(3) No person shall counterfeit, exchange or in any way interfere with any mark of registration fixed or put on by the ²¹* * * officer on any wild animal, meat or trophy.

(4) The ²²* * * officer shall, on being satisfied that the requirements of clauses (1) and (2) have been fulfilled, issue, in the prescribed manner, a Certificate of Lawful Possession of such wild animal, meat or trophy.

(5) The ²³* * * officer may, pending legal action, seize any wild animal, meat or trophy which has not been legally acquired or imported under this Order.

Any person who-

(a) fails to make a declaration under clause (1) of Article 9, or

(b) conceals in such declaration any material fact, or

(c) counterfeits, exchanges or in any way interferes with any mark of registration fixed or put on any wild animal, meat or trophy, for which a Certificate of Lawful Possession has been issued, or alters or in any way changes a certificate or ownership,

shall be guilty of an offence.

(1) No person shall transfer by gift, sale or otherwise to any other person any wild animal, meat or trophy of any kind unless he is in possession of a certificate of Lawful Possession in respect thereof.

(2) No person shall receive by gift, purchase or otherwise any wild animal, trophy or meat unless he receives at the same time a valid Certificate of Lawful Possession in respect thereof.

(1) No person shall import or attempt to import into Bangladesh any live wild animal of an endemic or exotic species, or any trophy or meat of a kind specified in the Second Schedule,-

(i) except through a customs port of entry;

(ii) unless he produces to the Customs Officer satisfactory proof that such wild animal, trophy or meat has been lawfully exported from the country of export;

(iii) unless he produces an Import Permit issued by the Government under this Order.

(2) It shall be the duty of a Customs Officer to detain any live wild animal or any trophy or meat of any kind specified in the Second Schedule until the documents required by clause (1) have been produced to him; and if those documents are not produced within a reasonable time, the wild animal, trophy or meat, shall be forfeited and disposed of ²⁴in such manner as may be prescribed.

(1) No person shall export or attempt to export any wild animal, trophy or meat except those mentioned in the First Schedule,-

(i) except through a customs port of exit;

(ii) unless he produces to the Customs Officer an Export Permit ²⁵issued by the Government under this Order.

(2) An officer ²⁶* * * may issue, or refuse to issue without assigning any reason, an Export Permit to ²⁷the owner having the Certificate of Lawful Possession of any wild animal, trophy or meat of any kind specified in the First Schedule, and in case of receipt of such Export Permit the owner of the wild animal, trophy or meat shall immediately surrender to the said officer the Certificate of Lawful Possession relating thereto.

(1) Nothing in this Order shall apply to any wild animal, trophy or meat in transit through Bangladesh:

Provided that ²⁸the wild animal, trophy or meat-

(i) shall be accompanied by the necessary transit customs documents;

(ii) shall be entered through a customs port of entry;

(iii) shall not be unloaded from the ship or motor vehicle or any carrier on which it is being carried, or in the case of air transport, it shall not leave the precincts of the airport at which it is landed or transhipped without being checked nor shall, except in the case of customs warehouse, remain in such precincts for more than 48 hours.

(1) No person shall, with a view to carrying on a profession, trade or business, buy, sell or otherwise deal in wild animals, trophies or meat, or process or manufacture goods or articles from such trophies or meat unless he is in possession of a valid permit, hereinafter called a Dealer's Permit, issued for the purpose by an officer ²⁹* * *.

(2) An officer ³⁰* * * may grant, or refuse to grant without assigning any reason, a Dealer's Permit to any person to deal in any wild animal, trophy or meat, or any class of wild animals, trophies or meat specified in such permit.

(3) A Dealer's Permit shall be issued on payment of the prescribed fee and shall remain valid for a period of one year from the date of its issue unless earlier cancelled.

(4) (i) The holder of a Dealer's Permit shall maintain such register or record of his dealings as ³¹may be prescribed and shall produce it for inspection at any reasonable time when called upon to do so;

(ii) The officer ³²* * * may suspend or cancel Dealer's Permit at any time and if he suspends or cancels it, he shall record in writing the reason therefore.

(5) Nothing in this Article shall be construed to exempt the holder of a Dealer's Permit from complying with the provisions of Articles 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13.

An officer ³³* * * may stop any vehicle or vessel and may search without warrant any person, vessel, vehicle, animal, package, receptacle or covering or any suspected place to satisfy himself as to whether or not an offence against this Order has been committed.

An officer ³⁴* * * may seize any wild animal together with any firearm, net, trap, snare, bow arrow or any vehicle or vessel or anything whatsoever used or suspected to have been used in the commission of an offence against this Order.

Every person in possession of an wild animal or trophy specified in the Second Schedule shall produce his Certificate of Lawful Possession on a demand made by an officer ³⁵* * *.

Every purchaser of forest ³⁶produce, persons serving under the Public Works Department, Chaukidars, Dafadars, Village Watchmen, Village Headman, Chairman and members of Union Panchayet, Kanungo and Tahsildar shall be bound, in the absence of a reasonable excuse, to give to an officer or ³⁷* * * information in respect of any snaring, trapping, netting, unauthorised killing or any other offence against this Order committed within the limits of his jurisdiction, as soon as the commission of such offence comes to his knowledge.

Notwithstanding anything contained in this Order, ³⁸any property seized under Article 17 which is subject to speedy and natural decay, the officer seizing such property may sell it and deal with the proceeds thereof in the same manner as he would have dealt with such property if it would not have been sold.

(1) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Order, it shall not be an offence-

(a) for any person to kill any wild animal by any means in defence of his own life or that of any other person;

(b) for the owner of any standing crops or his employee to kill by any means within the bounds of such crops, any wild animal causing material damage to such crops;

(c) for the owner of livestock or his employee to kill ³⁹any wild animal causing damage to the livestock in any way within a reasonable distance of where that livestock is grazing or where it is enclosed for the night:

Provided that paragraphs (b) and (c) shall not apply to any unlawful occupation of, or cultivation in, a national park, wild life sanctuary, or a reserved or protected forest or to any livestock illegally grazing or herded therein.

(2) The killing under clause (1) of any wild animal specified in the First or Third Schedule shall be reported to the nearest officer immediately.

(3) The meat or trophy, or any protected or game animal killed under this Article shall be the property of the Government and shall be disposed of in such manner as ⁴⁰may be prescribed.

When in any proceedings taken under this Order or in consequence of anything done under this Order a question arises as to whether any wild animal, trophy or meat is the property of the Government, such wild animal, trophy or meat shall be presumed to be the property of the Government until the contrary is proved. Provided that the burden of proving that the accused is in lawful possession, custody or control of such wild animal, meat or trophy shall lie on such person.

(1) The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare any area to be wild life sanctuary.

(2) No person shall-

(i) enter or reside in any wild life sanctuary; or

(ii) cultivate any land in any wild life sanctuary; or

(iii) damage or destroy any vegetation in any wild life sanctuary; or

(iv) hunt, kill or capture any wild animal in any wild life sanctuary or within one mile from the boundaries of a wild life sanctuary; or

(v) introduce any exotic species of animal into a wild life sanctuary; or

(vi) introduce any domestic animal or allow any domestic animal to stray into a wild life sanctuary; or

(vii) cause any fire in a wild life sanctuary; or

(viii) pollute water flowing in or through a wild life sanctuary:

Provided that Government may, for scientific purposes or for aesthetic enjoyment or betterment of scenery, relax all or any of the prohibitions specified above.

(3) The Government may declare any area to be a national park where the following acts shall not be allowed, namely:-

(i) hunting, killing or capturing any wild animal in a national park and within the radius of one mile outside its boundary;

(ii) firing any gun or doing any other act which may disturb any wild animal or doing any act which may interfere with the breeding places of any wild animal;

(iii) felling, taping, burning or in any way damaging or destroying, taking, collecting or removing any plant or tree therefrom;

(iv) clearing or breaking up any land for cultivation, mining or for any other purpose;

(v) polluting water flowing in and through the national park:

Provided that the Government may, for scientific purposes or for betterment of the national park or for aesthetic enjoyment of scenery or for any other exceptional reasons, relax all or any of the prohibitions specified above.

(4) Construction of access roads, rest houses and hotels and provision of amenities for the public shall be so planned as may not impair, ⁴¹the primary object of the establishment of a national park.

(5) The Government may declare any area to be a game reserve and allow hunting and shooting of wild animals under a special permit wherein the maximum number of the wild animals to be killed and the area and the duration for which such permit shall remain valid shall be specified.

(6) Such alterations in the boundaries of wild life sanctuaries, national parks and game reserves may be affected as the Government may approve.

(1) Where the Government is satisfied that an area of private land has been dedicated by its owner to the same purposes as a game reserve, the Government, on an application of the owner, declare, by notification in the official Gazette, such area to be private game reserve.

(2) The owner of such private game reserve shall, within its boundary, exercise all the powers of an officer under this Order.

(3) If the Government is satisfied that a private game reserve does not meet the requirements for being treated as such, the ⁴²Government may, at any time, declare, by notification in the official Gazette, that it has ceased to be a private game reserve from such date as may be specified in the notification.

Interference by any one in the discharge of the duties of ⁴³an officer shall be an offence.

(1) If a person-

(a) contravenes or attempts to contravene the provisions of Article 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 23, he shall be punished with imprisonment which may, subject to the minimum of six months, extend to one year and also with a fine which may, subject to the minimum of Taka five hundred, extend to Taka one thousand, and the hunting licence, gun licence under Arms Act, 1878, shooting permit or special permit issued to such person shall be cancelled and the firearms, vehicles, vessels, watercraft, appliances or anything used in the commission of the offence including the wild animals meat or trophy found in his possession shall be confiscated;

(b) contravenes or attempts to contravene the provisions of Articles 6 and 25, he shall be punished with imprisonment which may, subject to the minimum of one year, extend to two years and also with a fine which may, subject to the minimum of Taka one thousand, extend to Taka two thousand and the hunting licence, gun licence under Arms Act, 1878, shooting permit or special permit issued to such person shall be cancelled and the firearms, vehicles, vessels, watercrafts, appliances or anything used in the commission of the offence including the wild animal, meat or trophy found in his possession shall be confiscated;

(c) contravenes or attempts to contravene the provisions of Articles 18 and 21, he shall be punished with a fine which may, subject to the minimum of Taka two hundred and fifty, extend to Taka five hundred.

(2) Any person who contravenes any provision of this Order or any rule made thereunder for the contravention of which no specific penalty has been provided, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to Taka five hundred, or with both.

No court shall take cognizance of any offence under this Order except on the complaint of an officer ⁴⁴* * *.

Nothing contained in this Order shall be deemed to prevent any person from being prosecuted under any other law for any act of commission or omission which constitutes an offence under this Order, or from being liable under any other law to any higher punishment or penalty than that provided by this Order.

When an offender is not known or cannot be found, any officer ⁴⁵* * * may, if he finds that an offence has been committed, confiscate the property used in the commission of the offence.

The Government may, as and when considers it necessary, set up a mobile court for trying offences under this Order.

(1) Any officer ⁴⁶not below the rank of a Forester or Senior Wildlife Scout may, without orders from a Magistrate and without a warrant, arrest any person against whom a reasonable suspicion exists of his having been concerned in any offence under this Order.

(2) Every officer making an arrest under this Article shall, without unnecessary delay and subject to the provisions of this Order as to release on bond, take or send the person arrested before the Magistrate having jurisdiction in the case or the officer-in-charge of the nearest police station.

Any officer not below the rank of Forest Ranger or Wild Life Supervisor ⁴⁷who, or whose subordinate, has arrested any person under Article 31 may release such person on his executing a bond to appear, if and when so required, before the Magistrate having jurisdiction in the case or before the officer-in-charge of the nearest police station.

Every officer ⁴⁸* * * shall be competent to take all lawful means to prevent the commission of any offence under this Order.

The offences under this Order shall be tried by a Magistrate of the First Class.

The District Magistrate or any Magistrate of the First Class specially empowered by the Government in this behalf may try an offence punishable under this Order summarily, under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, subject to the ⁴⁹provisions of Chapter XXII of that Code.

(1) The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, empower an officer-

(a) to accept from any person against whom a reasonable suspicion exists that he has committed any offence under this Order a sum of money by way of compensation for the offence which such person is suspected to have committed; and

(b) to release any property which has been seized as liable to confiscation, on payment of such value thereof as may be estimated by such officer;

(c) to discharge in such cases as may be prescribed the suspected person if he is in custody or to release the seized property on payment of such sum of money, or such value as compensation to such officer as may be determined and to withdraw the proceedings against such person or property.

(2) The sum of money accepted as compensation under sub-clause (a) of clause (1) shall not be less than Taka one thousand and shall not exceed Taka two thousand.

(3) No officer shall have power to compound a second and subsequent offence ⁵⁰committed by the same person or persons under this Order.

Any person in possession of arms under a licence issued under the Arms Act, 1878, and residing within 5 miles from,

the boundary of a wild life sanctuary, national park or game reserve shall, within ⁵¹such date as the Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, direct, apply to the nearest officer in the prescribed form for the registration of his name.

The Government may vest in any officer ⁵²* * * all or any of the following powers, namely:-

(a) the power of a civil court to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents and material objects;

(b) the power to issue a search-warrant under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898;

(c) the power to hold an inquiry into an offence under this Order and in the course of such inquiry to receive and record evidence; and

(d) the power to prosecute a case before a Magistrate.

All officers under this Order shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the section 21 of the Penal Code.

Under this Order, carrying of fire arms up to the rank of Junior Wild Life Scout shall be treated as part of the uniform.

No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against any officer for anything done in good faith or intended to be done in pursuance of any provisions of this Order or the rules made thereunder.

All police officers shall, upon request made by any person employed under this Order, assist him in the due discharge of his duties under this Order.

An officer may, in the course of his official duties, resort to the use of firearms in exercise of his right of private defence of person and properties when the situation and circumstances are beyond the physical control of such officer.

The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, delegate all or any of the powers conferred upon it under the provisions of this Order to any officer subordinate to it.

Notwithstanding anything contained in this Order, the Government may, in the interest of scientific or any public purpose, allow, by notifications in the official Gazette, killing or capturing of any wild animal in such place and by such means as may be specified in the notification.

The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, in respect of any specified area-

(i) add to or exclude from a Schedule any wild bird or animal subject to such conditions as may be prescribed;

(ii) alter the period during which any wild bird or animal specified in the First Schedule may be killed.

(1) The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Order.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may prescribe-

(a) the powers and duties of the officers ⁵³* * * ;

(b) the form in which, and the terms and conditions on which, a licence or a permit or a special licence or a special permit may be granted;

(c) the fees to be charged for any licence or permit or a special licence or special permit;

(d) in the case of any species of wild animals, the number and the sex that may be killed under a licence;

(e) rewards to be given to the persons who render help in the detection of offences under this Order;

(f) the authorities by whom licences may be issued; and

(g) the management of wild life sanctuaries, national parks and game reserves.

Section 48. [Repealed]

The enactments mentioned in the table below are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column thereof.