Call for action plan to conserve elephants

Is it twilight for our wild elephants? Elephant activist Jayantha Jayewardene says an emphatic NO. Not if every Sri Lankan is aware of the plight of our wild elephants and many help or participate in their conservation

Jayantha Jayewardene said recently, that elephant conservation would be effective if most Sri Lankans could maintain an awareness and interest in the plight of our elephants. He said that all those interested should voice their concerns, collectively or individually, to those that make the decisions.

They should articulate their concerns strongly in the media - press, radio, TV. They should discuss elephants regularly with their friends - have small elephant interest groups. Those interested could help in small elephant conservation projects.

They could collect funds for elephant conservation. He also said that Sri Lankans should observe elephants in the wild as much as they can.

Jayewardene was speaking to a group of elephant enthusiasts who had gathered at the Chaya Hotel Habarana to observe the annual gathering of elephants at Minneriya. This was organized by Chitral Jayatileke and the Nature Odyssey team.

Jayewardene said a Policy for the Management and Conservation of Elephants, approved by cabinet, was now in place and should be translated to an action plan by the Wildlife Conservation Department.

Jayewardene outlined the measures both short-term and long-term that have to be adopted to make wild elephant conservation effective.

Short-term measures;

(a) Capture persistent crop raiders (mostly males) and pocketed animals and domesticate them. He said that theses animals would be killed anyway due to the ongoing human-elephant conflicts. This we see every week.

(b) Translocate some of these animals into large protected areas.

(c) All electric fences that have been erected should be maintained properly. Many are neglected and do not serve the purpose for which they have been erected.

(d) It is absolutely essential that cattle and privately owned buffaloes be prevented from grazing in the national parks.

(e) Habitat enrichment by removing exotic invasive species, restoring water holes, re-planting fodder etc., he said.

The long-term measures that now have to be taken are;

(a) Make strong legal provisions to back the new policy,

(b) Asses the present situation regarding elephants - numbers, locations, habitats etc. Jayewardene said that, based on the new policy and information collected, a strategy for elephant conservation should be formulated by the Wildlife Conservation Department. He said that a strong leadership and bold political will was necessary to support elephant conservation.

The Wildlife Department should carry out an education and awareness program to educate those living in elephant conflict areas on why the elephants should be conserved and not killed indiscriminately. The villagers have to be trained to organize themselves and protect their crops. Jayewardene said that innovative pilot projects that can reduce conflicts and bring economic benefits should be tested.

He also said that human activity in the national parks should be reduced greatly so that the elephants could use these parks.