brand logo

Custody of tamed elephants: More twists in jumbo saga

02 Oct 2021

By Yoshitha Perera The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) temporarily suspended the registration of 15 elephants until 13 October, following an order issued by the Court of Appeal (CoA) last Wednesday (29 September), The Sunday Morning learnt. The CoA recently ordered the DWC Director General to suspend the registration of 15 elephants that were ordered to be released following decisions by the Colombo Additional Magistrate’s Court and the Matale Magistrate’s Court. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, DWC Publicity Officer Hasini Sarathchandra said that earlier, the DWC and the Department of National Zoological Gardens had released only 14 elephants, and, as per the previous order made by the CoA on 22 September to temporarily halt the release of Sujeewa, a female tusker who had given birth to a calf while with the DWC, the Department had accommodated her and her four-month-old calf at the Udawalawe Elephant Transit Home (ETH). The 14 elephants were among 39 elephants that were previously confiscated by the DWC, as they were in custody of individuals who were unable to provide valid registration papers. However, environmentalists and wildlife enthusiasts continue to raise concerns over the legality of the gazette notification which regulates the use of elephants for various commercial activities. Issues with the gazette Accordingly, the regulations set out in the gazette had preliminary shortcomings that would not be able to be rectified. Stating that the relevant gazette notification was signed by a state minister, senior environmental lawyer Jagath Gunawardana elaborated that state ministers did not represent the Cabinet of Ministers, and therefore, went on to question the legality of a state minister signing a regulation. “A state minister does not represent the Cabinet of Ministers. Therefore, he is not entitled to, or he doesn’t have the legal right, to sign a regulation. Therefore, on that very basic fact, the legality of this set of regulations is questionable,” he said. He further pointed out that the relevant gazette notification regulates the use of elephants for commercial activities such as for cultural, religious, tourism, and other related economic purposes, which was against the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance. “The Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance, in its long title which describes the intention and the purpose of the Ordinance, very clearly states that no animal or plant in Sri Lanka which is indigenous shall be used for commercial purposes or (be subjected to) other abuses,” Gunawardana explained. While adding that the term “elephant owner” was not legally recognised in Sri Lanka, Gunawardana said that owning a wild animal was against the country’s Constitution and there can only be “custodians” who had received written authority from the DWC. “Legally speaking, all elephants belong to the State. So, there can’t be elephant owners as mentioned in the recently gazetted regulations. It highlights another glaring deficiency in the law,” Gunawardana explained. He went on to say that custodianships only came into effect after the Director General of Wildlife signed off on the registration documents, without which releasing the animals to individuals, who were thereby not authorised custodians, was illegal. Concerns by environmentalists “The ‘so-called owners’ neglected the wellbeing of 15 elephants, leaving them in poor health when they were handed over to law enforcement officers as case productions in 2015,” Environmental Conservation Trust Director Sajeewa Chamikara told The Sunday Morning, expressing concern about the future of the animals. On 6 September, the Colombo Additional Magistrate issued an order to release 14 tamed elephants that were taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to their original “owners”. The court order was made after seeing submissions that were made based on the gazette issued by the State Minister of Wildlife Protection and the advice of the Attorney General’s (AG) Department. The CID had seized these elephants held illegally by several owners during the tenure of the previous Yahapalana Government. The move by the State Minister of Wildlife Protection and the subsequent court decision drew strong criticism from environmentalists and animal rights activists. Chamikara charged that the AG’s Department was acting in contradiction to the law. He also blamed the CID for failing to complete investigations on the case, stressing that the animals were still the subject of litigation. “Investigations, in this case, were not yet completed. This is the first time the suspects in the case are getting these case productions (elephants) without the investigation process being completed by the investigation units,” he stressed. He added that, according to data presented by the Department of National Zoological Gardens, nearly Rs. 100 million was spent on the maintenance of some elephants since 2015. The DWC spent a similar amount on the maintenance of some elephants that were moved out from the Udawalawe ETH following the recent court order, Chamikara said, explaining that some of the 15 elephants were kept at Pinnawala and Udawalawe. Meanwhile, in Parliament recently, Minister of Wildlife and Forest Conservation C.B. Rathnayake said that there were only 210 tame elephants in the country and that the reduction in this number had “posed a serious threat to religious, cultural, and tourism-related activities”. Following this statement by the Minister, Chamikara opined that according to the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance, the use of any wild animal for commercial purposes was prohibited, and the gazette signed by the Minister contradicted this law. Human-elephant conflict Meanwhile, DWC Publicity Officer Sarathchandra claimed that Sri Lanka recorded the highest elephant death rate in a period of eight months this year, compared to the previous year, due to the human-elephant conflict (HEC), adding that 220 elephants and 88 people died in the period of January-August due to this. She said that last year’s reported elephant deaths were 327, and added that currently, Sri Lanka’s elephant population amounted to 6,000. Several attempts by The Sunday Morning to contact Minister of Wildlife Conservation Ratnayake and State Minister of Wildlife Protection Wimalaweera Dissanayake to gain further insights into the matter proved futile.

Kapruka

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!


More News..