{"id":118954,"date":"2021-10-06T17:03:56","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T00:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=118954"},"modified":"2021-10-06T17:03:56","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T00:03:56","slug":"the-elephant-in-sri-lanka-part-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/10\/06\/the-elephant-in-sri-lanka-part-9\/","title":{"rendered":"THE ELEPHANT IN SRI LANKA Part 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

In 2021, to\nthe dismay of the anti-Buddhist NGOs, there was a reversal.  Pohottu government issued a gazette, the\nFauna and Flora (Protection, Well-being and Regularization of Registration) of\nTamed Elephants Regulations No. 01 of 2021 which allowed for the registration\nof un-registered elephants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Criminal\nInvestigations Department (CID) then informed the Colombo Magistrate that it\nwas not possible to continue with the cases against those who were charged with\nthe illegal possession of elephants because the new gazette notification allows\nfor the post- registration of the animals. 14 \n elephants were then released to\ntheir original keepers who were told they had to register the elephants under\ntheir names within three months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These 14 elephants\nbelong to the 39 elephants had been seized from the hands of their owners in 2016\nbecause the owners did not have valid registration papers for them. The\nelephants have been living for the past few years at the Pinnawela Elephant\nOrphanage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such\nelephant was Bhanu. Officials of the Wildlife Department took \u2018Bhanu\u2019 into\ntheir custody in October 2016 as the Ruhunu Kataragama Devalaya was unable to show\nregistration. The tusker was handed over to the Department of National\nZoological Gardens and was kept at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage until it\nwas transferred to the Ridiyagama Safari Park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Bhanu\u2019,\nwhich had been roaming free at the Ridiyagama Safari Park in Hambantota since\nSeptember 2019 was returned to the Ruhunu Kataragama Devalaya in keeping with a\ncourt order. It is heart breaking to imagine the suffering Bhanu and the other\n14 elephants will have to undergo as they would have to be corralled once again\nbe in chains for the rest of their lives said the elephant loving NGOs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court\u2019s order\nto release the elephants to the suspects have drawn strong protests from\nwildlife activists. Multiple legal actions are being prepared to challenge the\ngazette and the two court decisions. Environmental groups and other lawyers\nsaid that the Colombo Magistrate\u2019s final order of September 6 regarding the\nrelease of elephants was erroneous and should be set aside. A\ncourt case pending under existing regulations should be concluded according to\nthe legal framework at the time the case was filed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Centre for\nEnvironmental Justice (CEJ) said it has filed a writ in the Court of Appeal for\nan order to return the 14 elephants to government care. It was preparing\ndocuments for an appeal to review the Magistrate Court orders and will also\nchallenge the gazette notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say they\nwill seek a stay order on the implementation of the gazette notification. They\nwere of the opinion that the ruling will encourage the capture of baby\nelephants from the wild. They also note that although previous wildlife\nregulations had banned the use of elephants in commercial activities, this\ngazette had laid out guidelines to using elephants for rides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunil Dharmabandu, a dedicated animal lover residing in the UK\nsaid that Buddhist monks\nwho keep elephants in their temples are only concerned about the prestige value\nthey bring, the more elephants they have, the better and of course, there is\nthe income that they bring in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caparisoned\nelephants and a tusker carrying the relics watched by spectators annually in\ndifferent parts of the country must stop. The\nperahera elephants marched for days on end so tourists and locals can feel\n\u2018blessed\u2019, said Sunil <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhism has no\nplace for pomp and pageantry inflicting cruelty on animals! Lay Buddhists have\nbeen hoodwinked throughout by cunning monks into believing that elephants are\npart and parcel of our “culture”. \nElephants are wild animals that should be returned to their natural\nhabitat, and any risks carefully managed by moving them to sanctuaries for\ngreater protection, continued Sunil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhists could\nboycott all temples who imprison elephants in their precincts and engage in\npeaceful protests outside, campaign in every possible way, make representations\nto local and government authorities, environmentalists and seek international\nsupport .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Animal lovers and\nrights activists who show genuine compassion for these hapless and magnificent\ncreatures should co-coordinate their actions worldwide to make such cruel\npractices in the name of Buddhism not tolerated anymore, concluded Sunil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

S.A.Abeyratne, wrote\nfrom USA in June 2016,   saying, as a\nveterinarian I am aware of the importance of elephant feet care. All their huge\nweight rests on this. In USA the feet of an elephant are cleaned and washed\ntwice daily. All four feet should be provided with pad trim and nails filed\nonce in two weeks. Also they need to\nwag their ears, to get rid of sweat. When the ears are covered with sheath, as\nin the perahera, they cannot do this.  At\nfestivals they are not given proper care or food,  in the\nwild they eat small amounts of grass all day long. When domesticated they get\nonly one meal a day. That too is a small amount of leaves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elephants must be\nregistered and  annually examined, he\nadvised. There must be rules on care of elephants, including cleaning and care\nof elephant feet, worming, and vaccinations. The mahouts must be trained,\nthey  must pass an exam, be registered as\nmahouts,  and  tested for liquor at perahera.  Veterinarians must be present at perahera and\nthey must be trained in elephant control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The NGOs say the elephant is a \u2018wild animal\u2019 that  should be in the forest. The toenails will\nget   trimmed  naturally \nas the elephant  moves around in\nthe forest, but what about worming and vaccination, asked critics. (continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS In 2021, to the dismay of the anti-Buddhist NGOs, there was a reversal.  Pohottu government issued a gazette, the Fauna and Flora (Protection, Well-being and Regularization of Registration) of Tamed Elephants Regulations No. 01 of 2021 which allowed for the registration of un-registered elephants. The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) then informed the Colombo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118954\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}