The West Bengal government will soon impose a complete ban on keeping Indian species of birds as pets at home. According to state Forest Minister Jyoti Priya Mallick, the ban might be imposed as early as August.
“The law will impose a total ban on keeping any sort of Indian species of birds as pets. Violating that will be considered as a punishable offence and strict action will be taken by competent authorities,” Mallick said.
He said they might offer slight relaxations in case of keeping foreign species of birds as pets. “But in that matter also, there will be lots of restrictions, like foreign species of birds can be kept as pets for breeding purposes only and the owners will have to procure a licence for the same. This licence will be granted against the payment of a registration fee of Rs 15,000,” the Minister added.
Mallick further said that there will be restrictions for the maintenance of foreign species. "The owners will not be allowed to exhibit them in public and will not be able to sell them in the open market. Before taking legal action against those who already have Indian species of birds as pets, my department will undertake a thorough campaign programme, so that they become aware of what to do and what not to do,” he said.
A Forest Department official said that under Indian law, keeping Indian birds as pets is barred in the entire country. “But very few people are aware of this law. Among many households, birds, especially parrots, are kept as pets. But it is high time that the government acts strictly on this issue and this is why we are bringing in this new state law,” he added.