12/08/2025
Vanishing gentle giants
I sit down to write a note on World Elephant Day 2025. Sri Lanka's leading conservationist, Sri Lal Mithapala quoted on his page his heartfelt affection for our gentle giants …………,
The Sri Lankan Elephant reminds us that in the heart of great power can dwell the quietest gentleness – a lesson as timeless as the island itself.
We join him in highlighting this day, World Elephant Day, which is set aside to focus on the plight of these wonderful creatures of nature.
In Sri Lanka today, the question arises as to whether there is anything special that we could do for the elephants roaming around in our jungles. We all know that quite a slab of the tourists who come to our country come in the hope of seeing our elephants. We know that we have an economy that depends on tourism. We have a culture that is over 2500 years old, in which the elephants play a very important role. So do we have a responsibility to conserve not only the Elephant but all nature's creations on earth.
Where do we stand now….? We have reached a disgraceful record high level of Elephant killers in the world. What on earth are we doing now? Does this make sense …..? It looks as if we do not need a special day for the elephants. The 240+ elephant deaths this year alone are alarming. Conservationists, Elephant enthusiasts, and the general public have to raise their voices against this Barbarian act. The authorities still seem to act like they are deaf and display a dumb attitude. This death rate is over an elephant a day. To encourage shooting anything that enters your agro field is an unofficial license to kill. This is applicable not only to elephants but also to all other four-legged and feathered species, including the Giant squirrel, which is our national animal. Destroying our rich wildlife for a loss-making effort of self-sufficiency in food is whose brainchild, I wonder. Do we see a smooth functioning of any Agricultural produce.
Paddy cultivators always complain about elephants destroying crops, but now it is a problem of finding a proper price or marketplace for paddy. Is it only Elephant management that is a problem to paddy farmers….? Or is it that we have no plan, or do we know what we are really doing.
No result has come from the recent census of elephants. Nobody knows how many we have in our jungles. The census itself was a whole count, or nobody knows if another methodology was used, so we do not lose much by not having the figure at all.
The easiest way is to blame the on-field staff of the Department of Wildlife and get away with it. They are blamed for lack of attention, a lethargic attitude, and negligence of duties. This blames come mainly from the farmers and the people who live in elephant-affected areas. Some of them also come from those who sit in their offices in Colombo. What have these big Gurus done so far, other than unplanned linear fencing, which is more a lavish business than a positive remedy for preventing Human Elephant Conflict. The greedy land grabbing for never-happened agro projects, destruction of jungles including elephant corridors, what is the plan to resurrect these major flaws created by gangs led mainly by politicians or guys with power? What is the outcome of amending legislation to punish offenders for killing elephants? Leopards, Deer, Sambhur, Iguanas, and many other animals, even Crocodiles. Has all this gone into a deep sleep for many years or decades. The department is short of staff, transport, and many basic facilities, which motivates them to do a better job than they do already. With a proper management plan, the DWLC will surely do an excellent job.
We, as an outside organization, are more than happy to help the DWLC in discharging their duties, but some offers seem to have fallen on deaf ears. We are still dedicated to assisting in all ways in the conservation of the greatest beast on earth, the Elephant, and look forward to a master plan to conserve our treasures of wildlife.
Dedicated to the Elephant (Elephas Maximus Maximus )
Sunel Rambukpotha
Director
H.El.P – Sri Lanka
2025.08.12
