This chapter investigates the wildlife conservation laws established in post-colonial India, particularly discussing the historical trajectory of the enactment and ramifications of the Wildlife Act of 1972. The structure of power and authority within India’s contemporary wildlife conservation sector is multifaceted. This study illustrates how conservation discourse emerged among the upper echelons of Indian parliamentary members and the bureaucracy. Adopting a top-down methodological framework, the chapter analyses the impact of these narratives on formulating post-independence India’s conservation laws and their implications for human-animal conflict issues. Through a detailed examination of parliamentary debates and policy documents, it becomes evident that the issue of wildlife conservation emerged as a prominent national discourse two decades after India’s independence, primarily driven by the interests of certain elite groups. This study emphasises that wildlife laws were far from apolitical; instead, they served multiple political objectives, with their effects becoming visible in the years following the act’s implementation in 1972.