News
Elephantine battle erupts over counting of jumbos
By Ifham Nizam
Elephant experts and Wildlife Department officials yesterday took exception to a statement made by Minister of Agriculture, Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Mahinda Amaraweera’s on the elephant population statistics here. The ministry quoting the Department said that Sri Lanka’s wild elephant population had topped 7,000.
Department officials however stressed that they believed the number was 6,000.Biodiversity Conservation and Research Circle of Sri Lanka Convener Supun Lahiru Prakash, who is also an authority on Sri Lankan elephants said, “I don’t know the basis on which the DWC has said the number of elephants has increased to 7,000 in Sri Lanka.
“According to the first and only national elephant survey conducted in 2011 we had 5879 in Sri Lanka.
During the past five years alone we lost 1683 elephants due to various reasons led by the Human-elephant conflict.”
According to their studies, the elephant death rate has increased by about 31% from the previous decade, and by about 92% from two decades ago. The elephant death rate shows an extremely high increase recently, exceeding 300 for the first time in 2018 and 400 just a year after.
Lahiru said that loss and fragmentation of elephant home ranges in the country had gone unaddressed. “Under that situation how can we imagine that the elephant population in Sri Lanka has increased? According to the recent statement of the Department of Wildlife Conservation there are 142 tuskers in our country and they said that it is a decline.
“However, we had only 122 tuskers according to a national elephant survey conducted in 2011. Is the change of the number of tuskers from 122 to 142 declining? To please whom are these authorities lying? There should be a hidden agenda for tailoring the facts in this way for sure.”
He also said that he couldn’t see authorities using scientific facts and figures in the decision making process with regard to Human-elephant conflict mitigation, elephant conservation, or anything else.
“They don’t acknowledge science at all. Decisions are made based on desires of politicians, not scientific evidence. Therefore, what is the purpose of knowing the number of elephants in the country? I am in doubt if this attempt is to cover up the increasing deaths among wild elephants or for capturing free-range elephants for domestication.”
NPP Parliamentarian Asoka Ranwala who was appointed the 22nd Speaker of Sri Lanka’s Parliament, on 21st November has resigned from his position today [13], in the wake of the controversy surrounding his educational qualifications.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has officially appointed members to the Port City Economic Commission.
Accordingly Harsha Amarasekera, President’s Counsel, has been appointed as the Chairman while Damien Amal Cabraal, Mohan Ray Abeywardena, Sanjaya Kulatunga, and Dr. Harsha Subasinghe were appointed as members of the Port City Economic Commission
The official letters of appointment were handed over to the members by the Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake at the Presidential Secretariat today (13).
“We will not allow the trust the people have placed in us to be undermined in any way,” stated President Anura Kumara Dissanayake during a meeting with the heads of state media today (13).
He further emphasised, “Regardless of their status in government, if mistakes are made, we will not hesitate to take appropriate action.”
The President further explained:
“For more than seven decades, the people of this nation have built and dismantled various governments. For the first time, we stand with a profound understanding of the historic mandate entrusted to us and the National People’s Power on two occasions.
The people placed their faith in the National People’s Power (NPP) government, hoping for a standardised and stable country. We will not tarnish that extraordinary trust, even by the slightest misconduct.
Simply put, our government is not here to shield anyone who errs, for any reason. Be it within the broader framework of the country or within our administration, anyone found guilty of wrongdoing will face consequences. We will not hesitate to act decisively and at the right time. In essence, our government will not shield anyone who makes a mistake, regardless of the reason. Whether the mistake occurs within the country or at any level within our government, we will not hesitate to take decisive action. Every necessary step will be taken at the appropriate time without delay.”
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake also reaffirmed his government’s unwavering commitment to upholding the trust placed in them by the people, who have endured decades of deception. He pledged to work tirelessly to build a better nation.
The Minister of Health and Mass Media, Dr Nalinda Jayatissa, Director-General of Government Information, Harsha Bandara, and the heads of state media were present at the meeting.
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