News
Scientific team completes part of ongoing study on gene pool of 700 Lankan elephants
by Ifham Nizam
An eight-member scientific team has completed a comprehensive part of an ongoing study on the gene pool of 700 Sri Lankan elephants.
Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) and Agricultural Biotechnology Centre (AgBC) of the University of Peradeniya, are conducting a research on DNA analysis of wild elephants in Sri Lanka funded by the Ecosystem Conservation and Management Project (ESCAMP).
The scientific team comprises Ranjan Marasinghe, R. M. R. Nilanthi Rajapakse, H.A. Bhagya Hathurusinghe, Chandana Sooriyabandara, Dr. C. H. W. M. R. Bhagya Chandrasekara, Nuwan Jayawardana, M. Madawika Kodagoda, Dr. R. C. Rajapakse and Prof. Pradeepa. C. G. Bandaranayake.
“The study will clearly indicate the differences of the Sri Lankan elephant as a sub species. Our molecular methodology is based on using elephant dung, and the test is similar to the Covid-19 PCR test”, Researcher R. M. R. Nilanthi Rajapakse told The Sunday Island.
“We have already sequenced and assembled the genome of the Sri Lanka Wild Elephant (Elephas maximus maximus), the type subspecies of the Asian elephant. Comparative genomics work continues with available Asian and African elephant genomic data with the objective of identifying specific set of markers for the identification of Sri Lankan elephants”, the team said.
The first part of the research focused on 100 elephants, and it has now increased to 700 with continued focus on elephants in the forest patches etc., they remarked.
The project aims to examine the within-species genetic structure of the wild elephant across its range to better understand how genetically distinctive regional populations are and deviations of Sri Lankan elephants with those of other countries and how that might affect its conservation.
Conservation and management of elephants in Sri Lanka has become an important issue given the escalation of the Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) and international trade of wild elephants.
The Asian elephant, Elephas maximus, is an umbrella species in tropical forests. Wild elephants play important roles in maintaining forest dynamics such as opening animal trails in the forests, creating open gaps that facilitate seed and acting as a seed disperser for large-seed fruit species. The conservation status of the Asian elephant has been recognized as an endangered species since 1986. Wild Asian elephants are currently distributed mainly in the South and Southeast Asia.
Habitat loss and fragmentation, anthropogenic disturbance, illegal poaching and HEC have been considered as significant threats to the Asian elephants, resulting in population decline and fragmentation. These threats resulted in skewed sex ratio and disruption of social organization.
Acquiring information of wild populations is important for effective conservation and management of wild elephants.
Wild elephants in Sri Lanka is estimated to be between 5,000 and 6,000, according to the last survey conducted by the DWC in 2011. This is a relative high number considering the small size of the country (65,610 sq. km) and the human population of over 21 million.
For management of elephants in the wild, monitoring the changes in the structure and composition of the populations would be far more useful than estimating elephant numbers.
Therefore, genetic methods will be useful for management and conservation plan such as individual and sex identification, population size estimation, population sex ratio, genetic diversity, relatedness among individuals in a population, gene flow among populations, detection of bottleneck event, phylogeography of particular species, detection of hybridization, providing evidence of illegal wildlife poaching, including being a tool for genetic management of a population and long-term monitoring of the managed population.
It provides genetic information of the populations that could not be obtained from field data collection alone. Genetic methods, on the other hand, provide reliable information on population structure and facilitate investigation of genetic effects on small and fragmented populations. Advance genetic methods also provide better estimations on population size with reasonable cost and time.
Further, tracking of ivory poaching would also be possible if a reference genetic database of the natural populations is available.
Molecular genetics studies on elephants’ date back to 1990s. Micro satellite markers have been the preferred choice and have played a major role in ecological, evolutionary and conservation research on elephants over the past 20 years.
However, technical constraints especially related to the specificity of traditionally developed micro satellite markers have brought to question their application, specifically when degraded samples are utilized for analysis. Therefore, the team analyzed the specificity of 24 sets of micro satellite markers frequently used for elephant molecular work.
“First, we optimized the DNA extraction protocol for elephant dung which can even be used for samples reach the lab within a week’s time because all previous studies depended on fresh dung samples collected less than 24 h time”, the team said.
“Comparative wet lab analysis was done with blood and dung DNA in parallel with in silico work. Our data suggest cross-amplification of unspecific products when field-collected dung samples are utilized in assays. The necessity of Asian elephant specific set of micro satellites and or better molecular techniques are highlighted”, the team pointed out.
The necessity of insilico analysis for testing specificity of SSRs is highlighted for other wild animals, for example, leopards. Nevertheless, the current study suggests that the analysis should extend beyond the human genome especially when dung DNA is used as starting materials. Therefore, the specificity of primers is a critical factor deciding the success of traditional SSR based methods adopted for such analysis.
Based on their study, no primer set out of 24 tested SSRs could be recommended for future work when the elephant dung is used as the starting material. If blood samples are drawn carefully with no human or other contamination, those with no multiple hits in the elephant genome, for example, EMU06 and EMU07 could still be used. As such, results of the previous studies done with elephant dung would be questionable with the evidence gathered from current findings.
“Nevertheless, no one could challenge the past since the revolutionary technologies pawed the path for the success of current studies. However, our results suggest the necessity of revisiting available methods. Alternatively, more specific,” the team stressed.
…of seven SOCs only one constituted so far
Sri Lanka’s controversial MoU on Defence Cooperation with India was unlikely to be taken up any time soon in Parliament in spite of the House Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on Governance, Justice and Civil Protection that has been assigned defence, authoritative sources told The Island.
Of the seven SOCs only one was activated with the recent election of Dr. Najith Indika, MP, as the Chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Governance, Justice, and Civil Protection of the Tenth Parliament.
The inaugural meeting of the current parliament was held on 21 Nov., 2024.
Sources said that the parliament had met for the last time yesterday (10) before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year holiday. It is scheduled to meet again on May 8.
The UNDP that has financially backed the establishment of the SOC system to help strengthen the role of the parliament recently reached a consensus with the government to reduce the number of SCOCs from 17 to seven. The Island, in writing, asked for the UNDP’s reaction to the operation of SOCs but had not received a response at the time this edition went to press.
The SOCs have the power to examine any Bill, except the Bills defined in Article 152 of the Constitution, Treaty, Reports including the Annual and Performance Reports relating to the institutions coming under its purview or any other matter referred to the Committee by Parliament or any Committee or a Minister relating to the subjects and functions within their jurisdiction.
Sources said that out of the seven SOCs only one had been activated during the past five months though the government and the Opposition agreed to share the leadership of them.
Accordingly, it was agreed that the government would appoint chairpersons to four SOCs –– Economic Development and International Relations, Health, Media and Women’s Empowerment, Science, Technology and Digital Transformation and Governance, Justice and Civil Protection .
It was also agreed that the Opposition would appoint chairpersons to the SOCs on Infrastructure and Strategic Development, Education, Manpower and Human Capital, and Environment, Agriculture and Resource Sustainability to the Opposition.
India and Sri Lanka on April 5 signed six MoUs on HVDC interconnection for import/export of power, cooperation in the field of sharing successful digital solutions implemented at population scale for digital transformation, defence cooperation, multi sectoral grant assistance for Eastern province, health and medicine and pharmacopoeia cooperation. In addition to them, India, Sri Lanka and UAE signed a tripartite MoU cooperation in development of Trincomalee as an energy hub.
The Island asked Ali Sabry, PC, who served as foreign minister during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as the President (July 2022 to Sept 2024) whether the seven MoUs had been discussed during that period. We also asked him whether those MoUs should have been discussed at SOCs before finalisation.
Sabry said: “Most of the MOU to my knowledge were discussed except the one on Defence Cooperation, which I am unaware of. General procedure is the relevant line ministry prepares the initial draft and gets the input from the Foreign Ministry and goes for stakeholder consultation of all ministries and agencies involved. Then the President’s Office grants its sanction and with the approval of the AG, it goes before the cabinet of ministers. With Cabinet approval, the government could sign the MOU.”
Sabry said that he was of the opinion that once the government signed a particular MoU, it should be placed before the parliament. “MOU’s are generally not legally binding and only signify the desire to work together. If the signed MoUs were to be implemented, then they have to be followed by agreements or laws.”
He emphasised the pivotal importance of transparency in the whole process. The ex-minister said: “I think transparency is crucial in these matters. Concealment leads to speculation and assumption of the worst. The MOUs should be tabled in Parliament for public information. Discussion at the relevant SOCs would have been helpful. There are growing fears fueled by lack of information in the public domain. This is a private comment, not to be attributed to me.
Asked whether MoUs, particularly the ones on defence and energy had to be approved by the Attorney General, the former minister said that the AG has to advise the MoUs compatibility with the Constitution. “But Article 157 of the Constitution does not apply; the 2/3 majority stipulated there envisages only investment treaties.” Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath assured Parliament on April 8 that the AG had cleared all seven MoUs and none of them were inimical to the country.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The Court of Appeal yesterday ordered the Election Commission (EC) to accept 35 additional nomination papers for the 2025 local government elections, which had been previously rejected by election officials.
The ruling was issued yesterday by a bench comprising Acting President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mohamed Lafar Tahir, and Justice Priyantha Fernando. The court ordered the relevant Returning Officers to accept the nominations following hearings on several petitions filed by political parties and independent groups challenging the rejections.
Last week, the Court of Appeal ordered the EC to accept 37 previously rejected nomination papers.
by A.J.A. Abeynayake
The Communist Party (CP) of Sri Lanka yesterday (10) expressed grave concern over the NPP government’s unilateral decision to enter into a defence MOU with Quad-member India.
The CPSL urged All democratic and progressive forces to pressure the government to reveal the contents of the defence agreement with India. It also asked the NPP government to revive the Indian Ocean Peace Zone proposal at the UN and mobilise global opposition to militarisation in the region. All democratic and progressive forces had to build a United Front against a New Cold War, the CP has said.
General Secretary of CP Dr. G. Weerasinghe has issued the following statement: “This decision has been taken without consultation or debate in Parliament and in the context of a New Cold War and heightened militarisation of the Indian Ocean.
During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka from 4-6 April, a defence MOU was exchanged between Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka retired Air Vice Marshal H.S. Sampath Thuyacontha and Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Indian media has framed this MOU as being part of Indian strategy to counter China’s presence in the region.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake assured Modi that Sri Lanka, “will not permit its territory to be used in any manner inimical to the security of India as well as towards regional stability”. While the CPSL has no fundamental objection to this, questions remain over India’s own commitment to regional stability.
The fact is that India is a member of the Quad and has partaken in US efforts to contain China in a New Cold War. In 2024, current US Secretary of State Marco Rubio tabled a bill in congress to grant India a status on par with NATO members. During a meeting between Modi and US President Donald Trump in February, India and the US entered into a 10-year defence partnership framework to transfer technology, expand co-production of arms, and strengthen military interoperability.
By entering into defence agreements with India, there is a very real danger of Sri Lanka being dragged into the Quad through the back door as a subordinate of India. Sri Lanka could become a de facto part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy and compromise its non-aligned status. This would be antithetical to Sri Lanka’s interests as China is a major investor and trade partner for the country and has supported our sovereignty in international fora.
Sri Lanka is currently not directly embroiled in any conflict with an external actor and therefore has no need to enter into defence agreements. The last defence agreement that Sri Lanka entered into was with the UK-Ceylon Defence Pact (1947-1957), which was a neocolonial arrangement detrimental to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and international relations.
The defence MOU with India could also be interpreted as a step towards further militarisation of the Indian Ocean, which is a violation of the UN Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace which both countries supported.”
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