Cruelty towards animals in a so-called righteous world

• Subsequently the Sri Lanka Army and animal rights activists had to come to the rescue of this tusker who was lifted in a rather careless manner and taken to a nearby location

The incumbent government has been scrutinised for its short-sighted efforts to revive an injured tusker who had been ailing inside a mud pit for several days. The tusker identified as ‘Bhatiya’ had suffered a gunshot injury in its front leg and collapsed near the Polpithigama lake bund in early February. The injured tusker is around 30-35 years old and the Nikaweratiya Wildlife Officials were the first to inform authorities about this tusker. 

Treatment had ultimately begun in May, after a lapse of two months by which time the elephant had collapsed. Successive efforts to treat the elephant proved futile and officials representing the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) were continuously criticised for their inefficiency. As a result of being submerged in a mud pit for a prolonged period of time, the sole of its left foot had also come off. 

Subsequently the Sri Lanka Army and animal rights activists had to come to the rescue of this tusker who was lifted in a rather careless manner and taken to a nearby location. It is suspected that the elephant has sustained multiple injuries to it’s trunk, brain and other organs and is finding it difficult to feed on its own. 

In 2021 Sri Lanka lost another one of its iconic tuskers that was severely injured in Vavuniya. There again, too many experts had their say in the matter and finally the tusker had to pay with its life. In many of these instances there seems to be a poor management of efforts to rescue the animal to a safe location and ensure that it’s kept in a manner that wouldn’t cause any more damage to its sensitive internal organs. 

This has been the case when it comes to leopards who are caught to snares. By the time the veterinary officers reach the location the animal had succumbed to multiple injuries caused to its chest and other organs. This is why Sri Lanka needs to be more progressive in its efforts to save animals that succumb to anthropogenic threats. 

In response to mounting concerns,  the government announced that it would setup a mobile hospital as a temporary measure and then consider setting up an animal hospital in future. Subject ministers and successive governments had similar plans to establish animal hospitals but none of these plans saw light of day. But before initiating animal hospitals the government needs to improve human resources in departments such as the DWC. Many of these officials complain about the hardships they face when having to brave thick jungles to treat injured elephants. They ultimately risk their lives while trying to save another life. While many of these staffers are underpaid, they also complain about insurance and other facilities allocated to them when working from remote locations. 

Wildlife is one area that successive regimes failed to address. There’s no point having elephants in tourism promotion videos if we can’t protect our own iconic species. We need to take examples from Australia and other countries that go to any length to save their wildlife. In March this year, a hunting influencer of US origin had to leave Australia after briefly snatching a baby-wombat on the roadside. She had to apologise in public and was subsequently deported from the country for her behaviour.

We need to initiate similar actions on people who are cruel to animals. We boast about being a Buddhist country but the amount of elephants who limp around with gunshot injuries speak volumes about people’s cruelty towards animals. Another ironical fact is that even though this issue between humans and elephants is termed as a ‘conflict’ it is the villagers who have been chanting pirith for several days, hoping that Bhathiya would be revived back to its former glory.

So, who’s really to blame in this matter?

‘Your Thought’ is a space, a right of the readers to support or contradict and discuss the issues highlighted in the editorial and other articles in the editorial and op-ed pages. Designed as the reader’s editorial; our readers can send in their writings, with a word count not exceeding 200, to ‘Your Thought’, Daily Mirror Political Features Desk, No 8, Hunupitiya Cross Road, Colombo 2 or email to [email protected]