Flaunt your shahtoosh: Govt gives 6 months to legalise banned possessions

NEW DELHI: You may finally be able to flaunt that prized shahtoosh shawl or wipe the dust off animal trophies, perhaps even bring your "tame" wild animal out into the open. Armed with new "amnesty" provisions under the law, the Union government is giving six months to people to legalise such banned possessions.
A notification dated April 18, sent to state chief wildlife wardens for wide publicity, allows people (not traders), who have a captive animal or bird, an article, trophy or uncured trophy derived from animals specified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, to apply to the chief wildlife wardens within six months. If ownership certificates are not granted or obtained, these items would be treated as government property.
Animals listed are offered the highest degree of protection. The highly-endangered Tibetan antelope or chiru is one such animal sought afte for the shahshoosh shawls its fur produces.
But many people did not realise, or care, till much later that their shawls could be considered illegal possessions. Conservationists expect the largest number of shahtoosh shawls to tumble out of cupboards in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Mumbai and Kolkata.

The Union environment ministry, looking to all items, has set the application format for an ownership certificate. Among the details required would be the method of procurement — purchase, gift or inheritance — and date. It also requires the owner to give the name and address of the person or institution from where the item was acquired.
Officials are expected to verify the facts and conduct inquiries. They should decide applications within six months of receiving them.

Potential owners will have to agree not to erase, alter or damage identification marks to be put on each item.