Chanaka Bandarage

At the moment at least 60 elephants are stranded in Oya Madu area including in the NLDB farm.

These elephants are the subjects of a drive from Thalawa, Galgamuwa, Thambuththegama areas. To please the villagers in those areas, the authorities chased them out of those areas.  

They consist of mainly female elephants that live in herds with calves.

They are so precious. We must protect them at every cost.

The Wildlife officials state that they are repatriating ‘problematic’ elephants’ to Wilpattu National Park (elephants who roam the villages of Anuradhapura and Kurunegala). 

Some say through instinct these elephants followed the ancient Elephant Corridors and reached Oya Madu.  

Obviously, the farmers in Oya Madu are now protesting.

The elephants now seem settled in Oya Madu. Rather than harassing them further, they must be allowed to remain in the farm (this 2000-acre farm is a recent establishment, prior to that it was thick jungle).

Wilpattu is tiny now (again due to deforestation), how can it hold a very large number of new elephants?

Trying to plant most of the Anuradhapura and Kurunegala elephants in Wilpattu is not a bright idea.

The authorities seem to confine the elephants only to the established National Parks like Yala, Wilpattu, Uda Walawe, Wasgamuwa etc?  If that is the case, it will mark the end of the Sri Lankan elephant.

Usually an elephant walks scores of kms a day.

Elephants are very intelligent creatures.  The wildlife officials must know that the elephants will never travel a route that they want them to travel.

Relocating wild elephants to new jungles faraway is a humongous task. This exercise causes enormous stress to the elephants. As a result they could become injured/sick/violent. The babies could get very traumatized.

Of course, it is an herculean task for the ground level staff. Their lives are in distinct danger.

Why did the Department of Wildlife Conservation embark on such a difficult/impossible project? Who advise them?

Empirical evidence shows that elephants who are forcibly planted in new environments will always return to their previous environments.

We all know the story of the majestic Tusker Panamure.  In 1959, the authorities tried to chase away hundreds of wild elephants in Embilipitiya, Rakwana areas to Uda Walawe National Park. It was a very traumatic experience for the wild elephants. In that exercise, ‘Panamure’, the lead elephant showed real leadership and bravery.

It seems the wildlife officials have not learnt a lesson?

Because they destroy crops and cause other damage, everyone blames the elephants and other wild animals. Many now want these animals (thankfully not the wild elephants) slaughtered.

This shows our lack of fresh thinking and compassion.

We do not seem to have other solutions than the easy method available– slaughter.

It is the humans that encroach into jungle land, not vice versa.

Today there is very little genuine jungle area left for the wild elephants and other animals to roam. It could be around 12% of the country’s total land mass (in 1948, it was 49%).

The Agriculture Minister in the Parliament stated that farmers can do whatever they like to resolve the wildlife menace in their own compounds.  Effectively, he was sanctioning the killing of these precious animals.

It is very easy to obtain an air rifle now.

Some Youtubers are demanding that monkeys should be killed en mass immediately.

What is happening to this Buddhist country? Like the writer, there are many in this country that not only refrain from killing animals, they do not even eat animal flesh. That is the Buddhist practice we have in this country.

According to Buddhism (and some other religions), all beings have a right to life.

Will killing the wild animals permanently solve this problem? Definitely No.

It is a very cruel way of trying to solve a complex problem.

These creatures have been here much before us.

There are some foreigners living here (and some locals too) who love the taste of wild animal meat – monkey, wild boar, peacock, porcupine, rabbit etc. Since we are so cash trapped, are we trying to create a new bush meat market?

Real human – elephant conflict arose as a result of the  Accelerated Mahaveli Program of 1978.  After 1994, the conflict grew rapidly. True governments spent large amounts of money to solve the problem, but most of these projects were failures.

This current Oya Madu operation is an extremely expensive exercise.

Again, it seems the new rulers too do not have a sustainable solution to the problem. They try to make things upside down. Oya Madu is an  example.

Trying to meddle with the natural environment is a foolish thing. The Accelerated Mahaveli Program effectively ‘killed’ the Mahaveli river. Due to the build up dams (numerous) and the diversion itself, Mahaveli has lost water. One could visibly see this in Polgolla, Thennekumbura, Kundasale areas. The large, shark-like fish (some capable of growing to over 8 feet in length) are no more. They have become extinct.

The last thing the authorities must do is to effect experiments with the nature. This includes the wildlife.

Again, farmers constantly encroach into jungle areas.  They are so greedy for land. As a result, when the elephants arrive in farmers’ lands, they blame them. This is the case in regards to other wild animals too.

Politicians – no matter which party they belong to pay a blind eye to this because it is the people who vote for them, not wild animals.

In the human – elephant conflict the governments have always taken the farmers’ side. They show a clear bias for them. This is not how developed western nations behave.

Farmers who encroach jungle land, those who commit illegal deforestation and indiscriminate killing of wild animals  must be brought before justice. Unfortunately, this is not happening well.

Instead, we try to take revenge from wild animals. There is so much animosity against wild animals these days.

The stolen jungle lands by farmers must be reverted to jungle. They amount to thousands of acres.

Rather than decreasing, the governments must try to increase the country’s forest cover.

Erecting strong electric fences is one solution.  Farmers who try to electrocute elephants using high voltage lines must be prosecuted and given long jail sentences.

In Himachal Pradesh sterilization of wild monkeys has been a success.

Of course these methods are expensive and time consuming (for vote grabbing, our governments want to show quick results).

Sterilization is a good method for Sri Lanka.

India will never sanction the slaughter of its wildlife.

The government wants more tourists to visit Sri Lanka; the tourists want to see wild elephants and other wildlife. At the same time, the government  indirectly promotes the harassment and slaughter of  wild animals.

The government wants the cake and eat it too.