Saving Lanka’s elephants

World Elephant Day falls on 12 August and is intended to draw attention to the conservation efforts to preserve this majestic creature around the world. Elephants are the largest existing land animals. The total elephant population in the world is estimated to be 497,000 by 2022 living in the wild. 

They belong to three species: The African bush elephant, the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant. There are three subspecies of Asian elephants – the Indian, Sumatran and Sri Lankan. The Indian has the widest range and accounts for the majority of the remaining elephants on the continent. The Sri Lankan is physically the largest of the subspecies, and also the darkest in colour. The Sumatran is the smallest.

The Sri Lankan elephant for centuries has been a cultural symbol of the country and in historic times a main export of the island. Due to heavy poaching for their tusks, a vast majority of the elephant population today no longer carry the genes for tusks and it is estimated that less than 5% of the wild elephants are tuskers. Even with such a low percentage of tuskers, these majestic creatures are still poached for their ivory. Just weeks ago, Barana, a large tusker that lived in the Kalawewa Reserve was poached for its tusks adding to the long list of such rare creatures massacred in recent years.  

According to the last census carried out in 2011, there are little over 5,000 wild elephants left in Sri Lanka. On average 225 elephants per year are killed due to unnatural causes while also 60-80 humans are also killed. The human-elephant conflict remains one of the biggest environmental and socio-economic crises in rural Sri Lanka. It is estimated that annually elephants cause over a billion rupees of crop and property damage. The retaliation by farmers has been devastating to the animal population.

Compounding the challenge for the conservation of these animals is the lucrative trade of animal trafficking, which has in recent years garnered political patronage. Environmentalists have been fighting for years against individuals who illegally capture and privately hold elephants. The culprits have included politicians, and even judicial officials. This activism had seen many setbacks with the Courts allowing illegally captured elephants to be returned to the people accused of buying them from traffickers. Last year, 14 such elephants were returned to their captives.

In 2015, wildlife officials seized 38 baby elephants that were allegedly caught in the wild and sold to affluent people. The wildlife trafficking business was led by an individual called Roshan Samarakkody alias Ali Roshan who is said to have had the patronage of the high political leaders. It is a known fact that in many instances in order to capture a baby elephant not only its mother but other members of the herd who would fiercely protect it are killed.

Sri Lanka owes itself and the world a duty to protect the unique subspecies, endemic to the island. Sri Lanka’s elephants are a flagship species for conservation. By protecting the elephants and their habitats, a number of other species, and the rich biodiversity of Sri Lanka, the greater ecosystems are automatically protected.

The pressure on wild elephant populations over the demands for tame elephants for cultural purposes should be addressed. If the solution is through selective breeding programs for domesticated populations, it can be done in a humane manner without allowing exploitation and cruelty. Several Asian countries have already banned elephant rides in tourism and the exploitation of animals for heavy lifting.

If Sri Lanka’s elephants are to survive into the future, urgent action is needed. It cannot be left to governments alone to save our collective biological resources. All Sri Lankans are stakeholders in this effort.