Pune: A case was registered on Monday night under provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act against the owner of a jewellery shop on Kumthekar Road in Sadashiv Peth on charges of possessing and selling jewellery made using elephant hair. The Vishrambaug police registered the case under sections 39, 49 and 49-B of the Wildlife Protection Act — which refer to wild animals as govt property, define scheduled animals and prohibit acquisition, possession, transfer or sale and dealings in trophies, animal articles, etc, derived from scheduled animals. Such articles cannot be possessed without the permission of a wildlife warden.
Pune's honorary wildlife warden Aditya Paranjape, who is the complainant in the case, had received information on Sunday about an advertisement for jewellery made using elephant hair. It included rings, bracelets and other trinkets, and the shopowner claimed it would help with the love life of its owners. Paranjape inspected the jewellery through sources and acquired a 3gm silver ring worth Rs2,700 made using elephant hair.
On Monday, the police confiscated four strands of elephant hair possessed by the jeweller. "It is a unique case, since such jewellery is not sold openly in the market. The hair sample will be sent to the Zoological Survey of India for further investigation.
The case should ideally extend to other jewellers who manufacture such products and also to traders of these animal parts. Furthermore, we should track the chain of trade as well,".