After his mission to relocate two elephants from the Sinharaja Rain Forest failed due to an order by former President Maithripala Sirisena former Sustainable Development and Wildlife Minister Sarath Fonseka has allegedly decided to restrict the movements of the last two remaining elephants in the Sinharaja forest and keep them in an enclosure surrounded by electric fences.
While Zoologist Dilan Peiris says Fonseka and his Deputy Palitha Thewarapperuma have no experience and knowledge on wildlife, the Minister is now determined to harass the
elephants further by confining them to an enclosure.
“The elephants have started attacking the villagers because they are been harassed by the people,” says Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) Policy and Advocacy Campaign Officer Janaka Withanage.
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Sinharaja’s Last Elephants
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“The villagers have illegally encroached on forest land in the Rajawatte area. The elephant corridor in this area is partly blocked by tea plantations, private plantations and illegal encroachers who over the years have secretly taken over forest land on the border of the Sinharaja Forest. The two elephants live inside the Sinharaja Rain Forest. They come out at night and go to the Rajawatte area. These animals are in this area for only three months. During the rest of the year the elephants migrate to the Morning Side area. These elephants have lived in the Sinharaja Rain Forest for many years. In other areas of the country elephants have killed people but the Minister and his Deputy have not taken the initiative to remove the elephants from those areas,” Janaka explained.
He said the villagers didn’t protest about the harm caused to them by the elephants all these years and that after the Minister and his Deputy said the elephants should be relocated, some villagers who are UNP supporters are protesting about attacks from elephants.
“However the majority of the villagers don’t want the elephants moved from the area. Illegal gem mining takes place in this area. Those engaged in illegal gem mining get attacked by the elephants at night. The poachers want the elephants removed so they can go to the forest at night to engage in illegal gem mining. The two hotels close to the elephant corridor at Rajawatte are illegally selling venison and wild boar meat. While animals are killed and their meat sold at the hotel the DWLC is only interested in trying to relocate the elephants,” Janaka said.
“We are in the process of choosing a suitable plot of land to build an enclosure for the elephants. An electric fence will be built round the enclosure and the elephants will be confined to that area. The DWLC will take the responsibility of providing food for the elephants because their food source will be limited when they are confined to an enclosure. The villagers have lived here for many years and there are no illegal encroachments,” Director General DWLC M.G.C.Sooriyabandara explained.
Sooriyabandara didn’t mention that there is an elephant corridor in the area and that it is partly blocked by illegal encroachers. Sooriyabandara initially agreed to Fonseka’s request to relocate the elephants to another location despite the elephant corridor been blocked and the illegal encroachments.
“If Sooriyabandara is bowing down to political pressure there is no point in him being in that seat. If he can’t protect the elephants and is trying to relocate them or confine them to a small area he should give his seat to somebody else who will protect the elephants and leave. That is the best thing he can do for wildlife,” Peiris said.
Executive Director CEJ Hemantha Withanage said the elephant is a keystone species and plays a key role in the forest. “A proper scientific analysis should be done before a decision is taken to relocate the elephants. The Conservator General of Forests is planning to do a scientific analysis. The Minister and his Deputy is not capable of doing a scientific study. They cannot take a decision to relocate the elephants. So much money was spent in the last few days in trying to capture these elephants due to an arrogant decision taken by the Minister. The two ministers are taking ad hoc decisions and using the public’s money to remove the elephants from the Sinharaja Forest,” Withanage said.He said according to the Fauna
I have been directed by my Cliental organization and its Executive Director to take any legal action against DWLC and relevant authorities forcing to produce an elephant Conservation plan whenever there would be a threat to these two elephants because of the Deputy Minister’s order
and Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO) the elephants cannot be captured and that the DWLC and the Forest Department got funds for elephant conservation projects. “The two departments got radio collars for elephants. We don’t know what happened to these radio collars? The elephants can be fitted with collars and DWLC officers can warn the villagers when the elephants are coming towards the villages,” Withanage said.
“The Minister is appointed to this post to look into the welfare of the wild animals. It is the duty of the Minister
to first check on the welfare of the elephants and then on the welfare of the people. If Fonseka is supporting the people of the area because they are UNP supporters that is wrong. When there is illegal encroachment in this area and the elephant corridor is blocked by the villagers removing the elephants from the area is not the solution. Fonseka should first do a behaviour study of the animals. When the behaviour study is done Fonseka will realise that it is the people who should be removed from the area and not the elephants. Why should these two elephants be kept in enclosures when it is the people who have illegally encroached on elephant land? The illegal encroachers should be removed from these areas and a fence built around them,” Peiris said
The letter of demand sent by Attorney at Law Notary Public, Commissioner for oaths Chathurika Hathurusinghe under the consultations of Withanage, to the Wildlife Minister, Deputy Minister, Sustainable Development and Wildlife Ministry Secretary, Mahaweli Development and Environment Ministry Secretary, Sooriyabandara and Forest Conservator General, Forest Department says as per my client’s explanation, it is confirmed that all arrangements are being made without any scientific base, in relocating two elephants who live in the Sinharaja rain forest (World Heritage Site) according to an order of Deputy Minister of Wildlife and Sustainable Development.
“I have been directed by my cliental organization and its Executive Director to take any legal action against DWLC and relevant authorities forcing to produce an elephant conservation plan whenever there would be a threat to these two elephants because of the Deputy Minister’s order,” Hathurusinghe said.
The elephants however were not relocated and still remain at the Sinharaja Rain forest.
