• DWC Ops. Director says probes into shootings using locally-made illegal firearms challenging 

The Department of Wildlife Conservation is planning to launch a special mission targeting snares and trap guns.

This was revealed during a press briefing yesterday (16) where the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) Director – Operations Ranjan Marasinghe said that when it comes to annual elephant deaths, about 20% of them are caused by gunshots, 14% due to electrocution, and about 10% due to ‘hakka patas’ (locally made explosive device that explodes when bit).

He added that the year 2023 saw the most number of elephant deaths, i.e. 488, and that shootings had accounted for about 20% of those deaths. Around 21% of the deaths reported in 2024, had been caused by shootings, while around 17% of the deaths reported thus far this year had been caused by shootings.

“We conduct firearm-related raids regularly and seize firearms. When we look at the postmortem examinations conducted in relation to these 20% of deaths caused by gunshots, over 90% can be connected to locally-made, illegal firearms,” Marasinghe said, adding that this causes issues in the process of enforcing the law, because investigating shootings done with illegal firearms is more difficult than those done with legally-made firearms.