The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 ^[1], has been the primary legislative instrument for wildlife protection in India. The main objective of the Act is to protect animals from being killed or captured by providing protection measures for endangered species, controlling poaching, and regulating hunting and trading practices. Although the law has been quite effective in dealing with the traditional forms of crimes against wildlife, its application to technologically advanced crimes like cyber-based wildlife crimes remains problematic. Therefore, this paper will explore the relevance of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, to online wildlife trafficking ^[2].

The paper will provide an analysis of the legislative measures outlined under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and evaluate their effectiveness in tackling the emerging cyber-based wildlife crimes. It will also focus on the involvement of the enforcement agencies in combating the networks of online wildlife traffickers and investigate the interaction between the law enforcement officers and intermediaries in the online space. Using the cases and enforcement data from recent years, this paper will demonstrate the effectiveness of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and explore other sources of law enforcement powers.