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Video: Elephant calf allegedly kept illegally inside temple premises

28 Jan 2015 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

In what is thought to be a clear violation of rules, a two and half year-old elephant calf had been found inside the Alan Mathiniyaramaya Temple in Polhengoda this evening along with another 20-year-old female elephant that was also being kept at the temple.

The raid was conducted on the instructions of Deputy Minister Wasantha Senanayake, who had arrived at the spot accompanied by wild life officials and the police after receiving a tip-off that elephant were being kept in the temple premises illegally.

When the minister requested legal documents proving the ownership of the elephants from the chief incumbent of the temple he said he did not have any. The chief incumbent had said that he would give them the license as soon as he found them.

The minister said that these elephants would be taken to the wildlife department by the officials and they would take the steps needed to relocate them in the wild.

Statements had been recorded from several people including the Grama Sevaka of the area, a mahout that had been kept there to look after the pachyderms as well as several others.

Legal documents could be obtained to keep baby elephants more than six-years-old but keeping calves of a lesser age in ones possession was illegal, the wild life officials said. They warned that they would be cracking down on those who do not adhere to this rule and said that those persons who own young elephant calves without a proper license were requested to hand them over to the government. (Chaturanga Pradeep)

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Video: Elephant calf allegedly kept illegally inside temple premises

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