CEJ calls for elephant management policy

The Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) has filed a writ application in the Court of Appeal calling for an effective elephant management policy in the country to minimize the human-elephant conflict in existence for decades causing around 50 - 80 human casualties each year and bringing down the elephant population from around 20,000 a century ago to 4,000 today.

CEJ Executive Director Hemantha Withanage said currently, there is no elephant management policy in the country which is the primary reason for the aggravation of the human-elephant conflict.

Surveys reveal that since 1950, a minimum of 4,200 elephants have perished in the wild due to the direct impact of the human-elephant conflict and in the past 12 years, 1,467 elephants were killed along with 670 humans.

The CEJ said on average, around 150 - 200 elephants die each year due to clearing of forests resulting in the loss of habitat, encroachment of villages, use of gunfire, hakkapatas, poisoning, electrocution and railway accidents along elephant corridors.

The highest number of human and elephant deaths due to the conflict was reported in 2016 with 89 human and 279 elephant deaths during the year, according to the Department of Wildlife. The death toll from the human-elephant conflict reached record highs with 375 human deaths and around 1,100 elephant deaths in the past five year.

The recent tragedy was the death of two calves and a pregnant mother hit by a train transporting oil at Habarana, the second jumbo tragedy in a month.

Wildlife experts said the construction of electric fences across reserves is no longer a deterrent for jumbos from entering villages as elephants get through these barriers by destroying the pillars.

Elephants have always held great cultural and religious significance in Sri Lanka and it is protected by law.

However, the giant is tortured being paraded at religious festivals and used as a tourist attraction for safaris.

“Elephants are tied onto trees and iron pillars for long hours and are being used for logging and to hoist logs onto trucks which are crimes committed against animals,” Withanage said.