Colombo, Sept 6 (newsin.asia) – The Sri Lankan government will not permit the capture of elephants and have them transported overseas following concerns that the elephant population was increasing in the island country, the Ceylon Today, reported here Wednesday.
Minister of Wild Life Gamini Jayawickrama Perera said that capturing and sending elephants overseas was a a violation of the world Wild Life regulations and Sri Lanka would not grant permit for this.
He said Sri Lanka, would next year, carry out a census to obtain an accurate figure of all the wild elephants in the country.
In response to concerns raised on the human elephant conflict, Perera said that the government was addressing the issue but the main reason that such conflicts occurred was due to a haphazard manner in which forests were being cleared.
Deputy Minister of Skills Development and Vocational Training, Karunarathna Paranavithana, quoted in local media reports, had recently raised concerns at the rise in human elephant conflicts stating that the island could consider handing over excess elephants to foreign nations.
Paranavithana said that there were almost 6000 elephants in Sri Lanka but the country’s forests could accommodate only an estimated 4000.
Between 2010 to 2017, more than 25 people died as a result of wild elephant attacks in Sri Lanka while around 57 elephants also died during this period.
ADVERTISEMENT