Two Sinharaja elephants will suffer same fate as the leopard: Thewarapperuma

The two elephants in the Sinharaja forest will suffer the same fate as the leopard which was killed recently if they remain in the Sinharaja forest, Wildlife Deputy Minister Palitha Thewarapperuma said yesterday.

Wildlife Minister Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka and Deputy Minister Thewarapperuma initially attempted to take the two animals out of the forest reserve but President Maithripala Sirisena stopped them from doing it, he said.

Deputy Minister Thewarapperuma said this during an adjournment debate moved by Joint Opposition MP Wimalaweera Dissanayake who urged the government to resolve human- animal conflicts.

“The villagers are planning to kill the two elephants and therefore they will suffer the same fate as the leopard which was killed recently. This is why Minister Fonseka and I decided to take them to an elephant transit home. We were going to keep the two animals in the transit home temporarily,” the Deputy Minister said.

“We went into action even without veterinary specialists and had to get the two from Sri Lanka Air force. President Maithripala Sirisena who called us as soon as we started the operation to transfer the elephants advising us to do it carefully. However seconds later the Air Force Commander informed us that the President had ordered the two air force specialists to leave the place. The President also called us soon after and advised us to tie the two elephants and keep them,” he said.

Mr. Thewarapperuma said the two animals will be kept in a hundred acre land within the Sinharaja. “Both Minister Fonseka and I will personally attend to the needs of these animals,” he added.

He revealed that villagers in Kalawana tortured the mother of the two male elephants which he and his minister tried to move.

The Deputy Minister stressed on a joint effort to resolve the human animal conflicts. He said politics has prevented resolving this conflict. “The human animal conflict had become a national issue because of politics,” he said. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)