• Says he has expelled ‘unruly‘ community members

In response to two recent videos showing several individuals including those representing the Vedda community slaughtering peacocks, roasting their meat, and consuming it inside the Maduru Oya National Park, the Vedda Chieftain, Uruwarige Wannila Aththo said that he would henceforth initiate legal action against both the perpetrators and the YouTubers who allegedly encourage such acts by offering perks like alcohol and cash to those involved.

Two videos showing several Vedda community members, together with foreign tourists, roasting peacock meat and consuming it inside the said Park were being circulated on social media platforms including on YouTube, recently.

Commenting on the matter to The Daily Morning, Wannila Aththo said that certain YouTubers are encouraging individuals from the Vedda community to commit such acts by offering them alcohol and cash with the intention of publishing such footage on their social media platforms. "Every community has a leader. They should be informed of what his/her community members are involved in, but, none of these individuals who enter forest areas and involve Veddas in these acts sought permission from me. If this happens again, I will have to initiate legal action against both my community members and those who encouraged them."

He also said that he never approves of such behaviour of Vedda community members, adding that he frequently advises them not to engage in such activities. "There is a group of individuals who don't obey our advice. I have removed that entire group from my community. Whether they are my community members or not, what is wrong is wrong. But, when this type of an incident happens, I know that some are blaming the entire community. That is also wrong. Just because one or two people misbehave, it is not a fault of the entire community. Everyone should be mindful of that."

The incidents in question recently surfaced after the first video, which is believed to have been recorded in 2019 or 2020, gained widespread attention on social media platforms, accumulating over eight million views and sparking public outrage, leading to an official investigation. The indigenous suspects, in the videos, are seen using traditional hunting tools like bows and arrows to capture the peacock, a protected species under the law. In the videos, the peacock was depicted being roasted and consumed in accordance with the community's traditional practices, including being dipped in bees’ honey.