2023-05-27 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
A team of veterinarians and experts will be sent to Sri Lanka next month to prepare for the return of Sak Surin, an ailing and ageing Thai elephant, to Thailand for medical treatment and physical rehabilitation. The team, which will visit from June 6-9, will be responsible for the elephant’s health to make sure it is ready for the journey home. sadi Jatuporn Burutphat, permanent secretary for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.He said the Department of National Parks, Wildli...
2022-09-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
‘Bandula’, the elephant found at the National Zoological Garden in Dehiwala is reported to have passed away today. According to reports, the elephant had suddenly fallen ill and had collapsed twice. Despite being treated by the veterinary doctors at the zoo, the elephant had passed away. The elephant was 79 years old at the time of its demise.
2022-03-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
“We conducted a survey around Sri Lanka and listed 54 garbage open garbage dumps visited by elephants,” Chandana Sooriyabandara, director-general of Sri Lanka’s Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), told Mongabay. “The department has nothing to do with the setting up of these garbage dumps, but we have to eventually deal with them as elephants frequent the dumps. We are trying to minimise the impact, but it is an uphill task as 70 per cent of Sri Lankan elephants can also be found o...
2021-12-06 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Dr. Nandana Atapattu, a former Director General of Wildlife and an expert on wild elephants has passed away. According to family sources, he had died at his residence in Purwarama Place, Kirulapone.Dr. Nandana Atapattu, has authored a number of research books on wild elephants in Sri Lanka.
2021-10-06 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Second Report of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) for the First Session of the Ninth Parliament was presented to Parliament today (06) by its chairman, (Prof). Tissa Vitharana, Parliament Communications Department said. The report also focused on the current status of the Muthurajawela wetland and Human-Elephant Conflict, which had been a very controversial matter among the public. The committee report submitted to Parliament states that as a solution to the Human-Elephant Conflict, t...
2021-09-09 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Pamodi Waravita and Ruwani Fonseka
The Sri Lanka Podujana National Zoological Gardens Department Workers’ Union yesterday (9) claimed that National Zoological Gardens Department Director General (DG) Ishini Wickremesinghe has resigned as she is unhappy about a recent court order to release 14 elephants to their original “owners”. The Colombo Magistrate’s Court decision on 6 September directed 14 elephants under the charge of the National Zoological Gardens Department to be released to their original “owners” for regis...
2021-08-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Under the new regulations, logging elephants can only work up to four hours a day, while working at night is forbidden. They are also entitled to at least two-and-a-half hours of bathing time each day. The captive elephants must also undergo a mandatory health check-up every six months. Rule breakers could face a three-year prison sentence and have their elephants taken into state custody, reported AFP.
2021-08-12 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Department of Wildlife Conservation has recorded 219 jumbo deaths up to August 11 this year mainly from human-elephant conflict. During the same period, 89 people were killed in elephant attacks. A Senior Department official told The Island that 160 elephant deaths and 56 human deaths had been recorded during the same period in 2020. This is a 30% increase when compared with the 2005–2010 period. It is the highest annual death rate of elephants in the world.”
2021-03-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
83 wild elephants died so far in 2021, said the Secretary to the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation Somaratne Vidanapathirana at a media briefing on Wednesday. The Secretary said the deaths were caused by electrocution, shootings, various explosive material, falling into wells, train accidents, and natural causes.
2021-03-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Mahaweli Authority has said that 6150 hectares of land were given to the proposed Hambantota Wild Elephant Management Reserve. The Authority stated that 2250 hectares have been set aside for further development in the proposed reserve. “This land is extremely suitable for development,” Osmond De Silva, the Resident Project Manager of the Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority said. It states that the relevant wild elephant management zone will be gazetted under the Wildlife Ordinance.
2021-01-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s Department of Wildlife Conservation will conduct an island-wide elephant census this year after a decade to determine the exact number of the animals in the country, local media reported on Monday. Secretary to the Ministry of Wildlife Conservation Bandula Harischandra said an elephant census was last conducted in 2011 and it was estimated that Sri Lanka had 5,179 tuskers, reports Xinhua news agency.
2021-01-19 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Pamodi Waravita
The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) would be conducting an investigation at the Horowpothana Elephant Holding Ground (HEHG) in July this year on the circumstances claimed in the National Audit Report for 2020. According to the report, although the HEHG was originally constructed to retain 30 rogue elephants as a solution to the human-elephant conflict, by 2019, 52 elephants had eventually been released to the ground. However, at the time the elephant census of the report was conducted ...
2021-01-18 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
On Monday (18) locals from Walsapugala, Hambantota decided to take to the streets demanding the Proposed Wild Elephant Management Reserve in Hambantota, be included in the government gazette. The Walsapugala village in Hambantota is a village in the frontlines of the Human-Elephant conflict, and for many years the people in this village have been living in fear for their lives.
2021-01-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Department of Wildlife Conservation has taken steps to use drone technology to chase away elephants; the pilot project of this initiative is currently underway in the Naula Rathgammana area in Matale, wildlife officials said on Saturday The pilot project is conducted together with the Sri Lanka Army Research Unit and Sri Lanka Navy, M.S.R.C. Marasinghe, the Director of Operations at the Department of Wildlife Conservation told News 1st.
2020-12-10 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has earned the dubious ranking as the country where the largest number of Elephants are killed because of the Human-Elephant conflict, a Parliamentary Committee has heard as evidence of an increase in the intensity of the conflict was presented by experts. This country is also ranked number two globally where humans have died in conflict with wild Elephants, testimony led before the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) heard according to a statement released by the Parliament’s Office...
2020-11-06 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The research team observed that the last elephant birth in captivity was recorded in 1994. “However, the report submitted to the Magistrate’s Court by the Wildlife Conservation Department (DWC) Director General on July 9, 2015 stated that 37 applications had been submitted for registration of elephant calves born in captivity during the period of 2000 to 2015. This raises a serious suspicion about the origin of these 37 elephant calves,” the report said.
2020-10-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Siddharthya Roy and Judy Isacoff
The rate of human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka has increased exponentially in recent years. The highest number of human-elephant conflicts since 1948 was recorded in 2019, with 405 elephants and 121 humans reported dead, ,” said Sajeewa Chamikara, a member of the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform, a nongovernment organization.
2020-10-01 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Benjamin VanHoose
Photographer Tharmaplan Tilaxan of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, captured a series of snapshots that document the large wild animals sifting through an open-area landfill located next to a nearby jungle.
2020-09-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
At the Parliament session held today (25), Minister of Tourism, Prasanna Ranatunga has said that the elephant population at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage has exceeded its capacity and its revenue has also dropped significantly in the recent past
2020-09-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
After the rare sighting of twin elephant calves in Sri Lanka in July 2020, misleading claims and old photographs have circulated on Facebook. Some posts falsely claim the Sri Lankan pair were the first twin baby elephants born in South Asia. Other posts share images of elephants in South Africa, misrepresenting them as recent photos of the new baby elephants.
2020-09-07 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Naveed Rozais
Under the formation of the new Government in 2020, it has been announced that the Department of Zoological Gardens will now fall under the Ministry of Tourism, causing concern among animal rights activists across the country with regard to the welfare of the 100 elephants and many other zoo animals in the care of the Department.
2016-11-27 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Many have expressed concern over the government’s move to return the baby elephants to individuals who allegedly had illegal permits or none at all. Several environmental lawyers claimed the move to return the elephants to the suspects was at fault since the court is yet to arrive at a final decision on the matter and it still remains a pending case.
2016-11-01 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Capturing wild elephants has been banned for decades here. Registration records indicate there should be only 127 elephants in captivity, most of them older. Yet they are a staple of the South Asian island nation´s 400 or so yearly processions — traditional ceremonies honoring a marriage, calling for peace or praying for rain — and in each there are always a few young elephants clumsily cantering to keep up.
2016-10-18 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Unlike African elephants that are characterized by strong matriarch-led, unified families, Asian elephant families appear to be less cohesive and seem to lack clear matriarch-leadership, the study found. The researchers found that Asian elephants showed such little dominance behavior that it was almost impossible to construct linear hierarchies among individuals.
2016-03-31 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Attorney General yesterday informed Court that 38 illegally caught wild elephant were taken into the Wildlife Department custody following the CID investigation into a massive racket where illegally caught wild elephant calves being sold to third parties.
2015-11-20 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Chamath Keppitiyagama of the University of Colombo is working on a radar system that listens out for the inaudible rumbles of elephants’ infrasound, something that was discovered in the 1980s. Infrasound is useful for locating and tracking elephants over long distances – the low frequency means the sounds travel a long way through the air.
2014-02-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Minister of Wildlife Resources Conservation Wijith Wijayamuni Zoysa defended the Government’s practice of gifting baby elephants to various parties, stating criticism of the action was unwarranted. Speaking to The Nation, the minister brushed aside criticism leveled by environmentalists, claiming the Government ‘will not be dictated by environmentalists.
2014-01-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday gifted two baby elephants to the Sri Lanka Army and the Police. Three and a half year old ‘Kandula’ was handed over to the Army and four and half year old ‘Abeetha’ to the Police. The baby elephants donated by the Department of Wildlife will be used at ceremonial occassions by the Army and the Police.
2013-12-20 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Biologists in Sri Lanka have published the first documented evidence of dwarfism in an adult wild animal. A male Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) measuring just over 1.5 meters (five feet) in height was seen in an aggressive encounter with another male of average size, according to the findings published in the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group journal Gajah.
2013-12-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Environmentalists have responded with alarm to a proposed amnesty permitting the registration of illegally captured elephants in Sri Lanka. Recent reports in Sri Lankan media have outlined the proposal, stating that during the amnesty period it would be possible to register elephant calves for a fee of about $7,600.
2013-11-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Three adult elephants and one baby elephant were found dead in the Hadilla area of Gannoruwa in Hamabntota in southern Sri Lanka. The elephants were killed when they got caught in an illegally set up electric fence in a private land, local media reported. The Wildlife Department has commenced an investigation in to the incident.
2013-11-01 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Srilal Miththapala
Charles Santiapillai, recently penned an article about the perpetrated suggestion to cull Sri Lankan elephants; this has caused considerable concern and debate among a wide cross section of people. Firstly,one must establish the context in which this statement was supposed to have been made, by the eminent Indian Elephant Expert Ajay Desai during a recent lecture in Sri Lanka.
2013-10-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Charles Santiapillai & S. Wijeyamohan
In 2012, a total of 252 elephant deaths were reported from Sri Lanka. In the same year, 66 people were killed by wild elephants. Thus it appears that in Sri Lanka, annually about 100 to 120 animals may be killed deliberately in the human-elephant conflict. The pocketed elephants can be captured and relocated to other Range States so that they can still live in the wild, and a few could even be maintained in well managed zoological gardens and safari parks. Thus culling of elephants is not an opt...
2013-10-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
Considering all these failed options Mr. Desai said there was a fourth option—the difficult choice of culling these elephants in ‘troubled’ spots. He said this method was cost effective and would even have conservation gains such as using funds to conserve other viable elephant populations. It would also bring a quick end to these elephants instead of a slow lingering death which is what actually awaits them or a life time in captivity and death in the end.
2013-10-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Twenty-four elephants lined up for a race Thursday on Sri Lanka´s newest expressway, but thousands of spectators were left disappointed when organisers scrapped the event due to safety concerns. The animals and jockeys were jostling at the start line on the Chinese-built 25.8-kilometre (16 mile) four-lane expressway from the airport to the capital when authorities had a sudden change of heart. Police felt that the tuskers could pose a threat to the safety of spectators if one of them went ...
2013-09-08 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Environmentalists have warned that the amnesty period for those who rear elephants illegally to register them, will have far-reaching consequences as it will promote elephant poaching. The Environment Conservation Trust has highlighted that relaxing laws on illegally domesticated elephants will encourage poachers to pry on baby elephants, and would run contrary to the Ministry’s good intentions.
2013-06-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
A ceremony to hand over a baby tusker gifted by the Government of Myanmar to the Bellanwila Rajamahavihara in Sri Lanka took place Tuesday in the presence of the External Affairs Minister Professor G.L. Peiris. The Minister expressed Sri Lanka´s appreciation to the government of Myanmar for its support.
2013-04-28 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka organized a lecture on April 19, regarding a survey of elephants of Sri Lanka. Dr Charles Santiapillai and S Wijeyamohan addressed the audience.The survey was carried out by the Department of Wildlife Conservation on August 11, 12 and 13, 2011. The lecture highlighted the nature of the survey, and stressed on the difference between a survey and a census.
2012-12-12 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Wildlife Department authorities will have discussions with the public at workshops to solve the human-elephant conflict, Wildlife Director General H D Rathnayake said. He said according to the National Elephant Conservation Policy, the Authority activates action plans to prevent the human-elephant conflict. "Under this programme, the department will identify practical and relevant steps which could be used to prevent the conflict between elephants and humans," Rathnayake said. ...
2012-12-09 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
After monitoring a dozen bull Asian elephants in Sri Lanka that were transferred—three of them multiple times—to national parks, researchers have concluded that relocation neither reduces human-elephant conflicts nor helps conservation efforts. Indeed, five of the translocated elephants ended up being killed within 8 months of their release, and the elephants killed five people.
2012-10-06 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Prague zoo deputy director Jaroslav Simek said it is a unique project that will largely help extend the genetic base of the European breeding of Indian elephants. The elephants, eight-year-old Janita and seven-year-old Tamara, come from the elephant zoo in Pinnawale. "The Hercules C-130 with them is to take off on Saturday at 01:00 the local time," Bobek, who is staying in Colombo, said.
2012-04-15 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Lightning during heavy showers has been suspected as the cause for the death of a temple tusker in Sri Lanka. The 24-year-old elephant named ´Lanka belonging to the Kotte Rajamaha Viahara was found dead Saturday morning in the Ingiriya area in the Kalutara district. According to Ingiriya Police, the elephant has been brought to the area to take part in a New Year festival and was left tethered to a tree in a two-acre filed.
2012-02-06 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Navam Perahera, held annualy in February, displays hundreds of monks, sacred relics housed in a casket are carried by a majestic elephant on its back, dancers, drummers, and many elephants also displays the rich religious and cultural tradition of Sri Lanka.
2012-01-21 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
Feeding wild elephants and enticing them with homemade bites or fast-food leftovers is encouraging a bad and potentially lethal habit – potentially lethal to the humans who tempt the wild animals, who might the next moment turn on them, and lethal to the animal who will probably have to be put down if it took a human life. Local visitors and tourists are unwittingly encouraging a potentially lethal habit when they feed wild elephants.
2012-01-17 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Plans to translocate elephants in Sri Lanka have been scrapped - to the delight of the Sri Lanka Conservation Society (SLCS). However, the charity remains concerned about how the country´s elephant population is to be managed amid intensifying human-elephnt conflict on the island. President Ravi Corea said: There seems to be no definite plans as to how the current populations of elephants in Sri Lanka will be managed over the long term.
2012-01-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Kumudini Hettiarachchi
It was a double tragedy – the bullets not only killed the cow-elephant but also the unborn baby she was carrying at Demaliya, close to the northern boundary of the Lunugamvehera National Park last Wednesday. Gunned down by a home-made shot-gun, within an area cleared for chena cultivations, when officials of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) rushed to the area on information received from the villagers , the cow elephant with severe gunshot injuries to the head was already dead, th...
2012-01-10 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Among the places they visited in Sri Lanka was the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Pinnawala officials feclicitated the visit with the planting of a tree. Eco and wild life tourism expert Sri Lal Miththapala guided the VIPs around on the invitation of the tourism authorities. “Such high profile visits are welcome at a time we are trying to reach out to high end tourists,” said the Acting Sri Lanka Tourism Director General Vipula Wanigasekera.
2012-01-08 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Department of National Zoological Gardens has earned Rs. 651 million last year, the highest on record. The income came from earnings from the Dehiwala Zoo (Rs. 163 million), Elephant Orphanage, Pinnawela (Rs 487 million) and Rs.16 million from other sources. More than 1. 6 million locals and 20,000 had visited the Dehiwela Zoo in 2011 while around 400,000 locals and around 2.4 million foreigners had had visited the elephant orphanage, the Government’s news web site said.
2011-12-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Disna MUDALIGE
Work on four elephant conservation sites planned in selected areas to control the human-elephant conflict would be completed within the next year, Wildlife Conservation Department director general H D Ratnayake told the Daily News yesterday. He said that the centre in Veheragala has been completed, while the construction of the three other centres in Horowpathana, Maduru Oya and Galgamuwa will be completed within the next year using the budgetary allocation of Rs 100 million.
2011-12-17 - Colombo, United States.
Sri Lanka Department of Forest Conservation says that 200 elephants and 48 men were killed in the human-elephant conflicts this year. Of these elephants, 75 were killed due to gunshot injuries, says the Deputy Director of the Department W.S.K. Navaratne. Another 22 elephants were killed by food traps laid by farmers and hunters. This explosive laden food detonates when the elephant munches it and the animal receives a painful death.
2011-11-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Holding grounds will be the most effective way to address the problem, he said. President Rajapaksa has approved building four elephant holding grounds in Lunugamwehera, Horowpathana, Maduru Oya and Palukadawa Galgamuwa areas where wildlife and people overlap as a means to reduce the conflict. President has allocated Rs 400 million for Wildlife and Agrarian Ministry to carry out these projects.
2011-11-13 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Kumudini Hettiarachchi
One is dead and will more follow, for three elephants have been mowed down by the Colombo Fort-Omanthai mail train at the 97.5 milepost between Galgamuwa and Ambanpola at about 3 a.m. last Tuesday. Ironically this is not the first but the third time that elephants have been knocked down at the same location. It was in June this year that three gentle giants died an agonising death after being hit by a special train carrying Poson pilgrims. A few years prior to that another three were killed prac...
2011-09-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Gazala Anver
Several months ago, reliable sources informed The Sunday Leader that several baby elephants had been taken from the wild and kept at temples around the country. Investigations were conducted in April and three baby elephants were traced to Dewram Vehara in Pannipitiya and the Vipashyarama Purana Vihara, Maharagama.
2011-09-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Dhaneshi YATAWARA
Following several rounds of discussion Railway officials together with Wildlife Conservation Authorities will impose speed limits for trains on certain areas on the Northern and Eastern railway track, Wildlife and Agrarian Services Minister S.M. Chandrasena said. "According to the talks we had with Railway officials, the trains need to limit their speed in areas where elephants cross the railway track," Minister Chandrasena told the ´Sunday Observer´. According to the Wildlife Conser...
2011-09-15 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Government spokesman and Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said Thursday that the Cabinet has approved a proposal presented by the Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne to donate the baby elephant from the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage to the Manila zoo. In addition, Sri Lankan Embassy in Philippines has organized a series of events to mark the golden jubilee celebrations to be held in Manila on the 3rd week of September.
2011-08-22 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Dhaneshi YATAWARA
The results of the first ever National Elephant Survey is currently undergoing a close scrutiny at the Statistics Department of the Peradeniya University. The Department of Wildlife Conservation expects to issue an interim report as the initial step and later a complete survey.
2011-08-13 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
An elephant calf has died in Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on the 9th. The calf had been born on 16th January to the she elephant called ‘Lasanda.’ However, this elephant mother had been separated from its calf on a request by the President and was offered to Vishnu Temple at Devinuwara.
2011-08-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Tharindu Muthukumarana
The world famous Millangoda Raja has passed away, leaving us the sweet memories that we had of the great tusker. Millangoda Raja was known as a tusker, had the longest tusks in the whole of Asia. The beauty of the tusker was such that it was featured in the covers of several books about elephants. The death of Millangoda Raja was a natural death. The teeth of the elephant had worn out and it could only swallow little amounts of food at a time. This sort of old aged death comes to wild elephants,...
2011-08-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Wildlife groups in Sri Lanka are threatening to boycott the country´s first national survey of wild elephants after a minister said it would be used to identify animals for use at temples. A dozen privately-run wildlife organisations on Tuesday pulled out their volunteers on the eve of the survey which aims to count the number of animals across all of the formerly war-torn island´s national parks for the first time.
2011-07-31 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
Residents of the area blocked Palagala junction last week, demanding a solution for their Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) issue. About 1,500 villagers gathered at this junction on July 20, protesting the death in the last two months of 7 villagers killed by elephants, according to media reports. Traffic from Kekirawa, Galewela and Mahawa was blocked, causing severe inconvenience to the public. The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) had to assure the villagers that they would relocate the tr...
2011-07-27 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Corroborating previous studies of this and other Asian elephant populations, we find that the sizes of elephant groups observed in the field on any particular day are typically small and that rates of association are low. In contrast to earlier studies, our longitudinal observations reveal that individuals form larger social units that can be remarkably stable across years while associations among such units change across seasons.
2011-07-19 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Tharindu Muthukumarana
The death of this majestic tusker was a tear jerking story for most Sri Lankans. This is not the first time when a death of an elephant became a story much talked about through out Sri Lanka. The tusker passed away on Friday 8, 2011, at about 7 am. Navam Raja was an attractive part of the Navam Prerahera. Raja meaning the king in both Sinhala and Tamil languages became the lead elephant to take part in the Gangarama Navam Perahera.
2011-06-07 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Two ˜holding grounds to relocate problematic elephants will be completed by the end of the year in a bid to resolve the long-standing human-elephant conflict in the country, the Wildlife Department said yesterday. Wildlife Department Director Dr. Chandrawansa Pathiraja told the Daily Mirror that the construction process of two holding grounds in Lunugamwehera and Horowpathana would be launched in the coming weeks.
2011-05-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Gazala Anver
The gentle giants, inextricably linked to the history and culture of our country, have for generations been hunted and sold for their ivory or as symbols of prestige. It has come to such a point now, that there are very few tame elephants left and the price for them is sky high, as near as a million rupees per elephant.
2011-05-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
There was panic for a moment along the main road in Rajagiriya yesterday morning when an elephant ran amok near the Welikada police station after its caretaker lost control of the elephant. However, the animal was brought under control after some time. According to the caretaker the elephant that was brought to Sri Lanka from Myanmar some time ago was being taken from the Kotte Raja Maha Viharaya to the Defence Ministry for a function when it got disturbed and ran amok.
2011-04-22 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Dehiwala National Zoological Gardens has organized a best video clip competition for visitors from April 8 to 22 for the New Year school vacation, Director General Bashwara Senanka Gunaratne told the Daily News. A tame, juvenile elephant will be brought to the zoo from the Pinnawala elephant orphanage on April 22. People will be allowed to view these animals from 3 pm onwards on this day, he explained. Gunaratne requested the public to visit the zoo during their vacation and participate in t...
2011-04-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Disna Mudalige
The Wildlife Conservation Department has decided to do away with elephant translocation with immediate effect considering the negative impact it has caused to both humans and elephants, a spokesperson of the Department told the Daily News yesterday. She said that previous translocation attempts had proved to be unsuccessful. "The elephants had somehow tried to find a route to go back to their previous location. Translocation can affect the behaviour of the elephants. In return they become aggres...
2011-02-09 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
More than 72 wild elephants have been detected marooned in the flood affected areas in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, Director General of Wildlife Conservation Department, Chandrawansa Pathiraja said. He added that 70 out of them were stranded in Manik Farm and Settikulam areas in Vavuniya. Two elephant calves have been detected in Singhapura area in Welikanda, and measures have already been taken to rescue those two, the Director General said.
2011-01-21 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Chamikara Weerasinghe
The Government has allocated nearly Rs 300 million to put up elephant fences in areas where the human-elephant conflict is deemed severe, Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S M Chandrasena said yesterday. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has reportedly instructed Minister Chandrasena to fully activate the safety and protection systems in all National Parks.
2010-12-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Department of Wildlife has decided to conduct an island wide survey to take census on wild elephants. The Minister of Agrarian Services and Wildlife, S.M. Chandrasena says that he has directed the officials of the Department to conduct the survey in August next year.
2010-12-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Minister of Wildlife and Peasants Services S.M. Chandrasena says that 5,000 personnel of Civil Defense Force will be deployed to prevent man-elephant conflicts. The Civil Defense Force personnel will assist the Wildlife officials to protect the elephant population as well as the crops of the farmers.
2010-08-20 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Ajithlal Shanthaudaya
Buddhist temples and devalas in the country are finding it difficult to maintain the status and grandeur of their annual religious festivals and peraheras owing to the dearth of tame elephants. Basnayake Nilame of the Sabaragamuwa Maha Saman Devala Sunil Shantha Weerasekara who expressed concern about this situation, pointed out that there was an urgent need to capture and tame elephants for use in temple matters or else many annual processions that were considered as great national pageants w...
2010-08-17 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan wildlife veterinarians have gone on strike to protest at the alleged mishandling of elephant conservation which has resulted in an increase in deadly attacks, a union leader said Tuesday. "There is no proper management of wild elephants who are being pushed into narrow habitats as the government allows people to encroach into traditional elephant homelands," Vijitha Perera, the secretary of the vets´ union, told AFP.
2010-08-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
An elephant named Stumpy will be the mascot for the 2011 cricket World Cup. The elephant’s name was unveiled Monday — 200 days before the first ball is bowled — following an online contest. The winner receives a bat signed by cricket stars Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar of India and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena.
2009-10-31 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Ananda Weerasuriya
An elephant at the Dehiwala zoo became unruly yesterday and damaged the roof of the elephant enclosure badly bruising and wounding its trunk, veterinary surgeons at the zoo said. The elephant named Bandula had been tied for the last few days since he had been in ‘must’ (the period when male elephants are ready for mating). However, the condition of the elephant had turned worse yesterday becoming violent and kicking and hitting at the concrete pillars of the enclosure.
2009-10-18 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Risidra Mendis
Another elephant killed due to gunshot wounds or electrocution has become a piece of news that we see almost every day. The deaths of wild elephants and humans seem to be increasing, with no immediate solution at hand. But while government authorities discuss possible solutions Sri Lanka’s elephant population continues to decline at an alarming rate.
2009-09-27 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
One of the suspects, Dr Dangolla in the case of a three- month- old baby elephant who died while being held captive in Balangoda, is alleged to have fled the country, environmentalists charged. "After the cub elephant was found in a room of a property belonging to the Deputy Chairman of the Balangoda Urban Council, the main suspect in the case, Richard Gonakumbura, father- in- law of the deputy chairman of the Balangoda Urban Council pleaded guilty at the Balangoda magistrate's court.
2009-09-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nadira Gunatilleke
Veterinary doctors of Sri Lanka have identified two elephants that were infected by rabies. This is the first time the decease was identified among elephants, said Sri Lanka's virology research institute chief Ochala Wimalaratna addressing a seminar held yesterday. The infected elephants are tamed ones that live in Colombo municipal limits, she said.
2009-09-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
For the first time in the Sri Lankan film industry, the first screening of the movie “Bindu” directed by award winning filmmaking duo Somaratne Dissanayake and Renuka Balasuriya’s was free of charge in all cinema halls island wide. The movie “Bindu” was released in Lankan cinema halls yesterday (23) and the show was free to all movie lovers for the first time in the Sri Lankan film industry. Large crowds were seen lined up at the cinema’s yesterday to watch the movie.
2009-09-20 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. L.B.Senaratne
The elephant, whether captive or wild, evokes much interest, debate and controversy in Sri Lanka. On the one hand there is a cry among those who organize processions and religious pageants that there are not enough captive elephants to go around during the Perahera seasons, especially during the period of July to September. On the other hand, farmers and rural people who live in areas close to forests and rely on agriculture as the mainstay of their livelihoods complain of elephant attacks not o...
2009-08-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Dubbed Kublai Khan for his majestic form, the eight-foot tusker who died last Sunday was a favourite with visitors to the Yala park. Here veteran wildlife photographer and researcher Lal Anthonis who has been studying the Yala tuskers for decades shares his fascination with Kublai Khan dating back all of 20 years…. Describing Kublai Khan as an ‘icon’ of Yala, Lal Anthonis, immediate past president of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society recalls how Kublai Khan was on the cover of the...
2009-08-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. S.S. Selvanayagam
The Supreme Court yesterday dismissed the fundamental rights petition filed in respect of two baby elephants that had been offered to Sri Dalada Maligawa by the President. The Bench comprising Chief Justice Asoka de Silva, Justices Saleem Marsoof and Jagath Balapatabendi dismissed the petition after it was withdrawn. The Supreme Court was also notified that action was being taken to reunite the baby elephants with their mothers. Counsel I.R .Rajapakse appearing for the petitioner had earlier tol...
2009-08-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Risidra Mendis
An ongoing baby elephant racket in the country has come to light with the discovery of a third baby being held captive in Balangoda. However the Flying Squad of the Department of Wildlife and Conservation (DWC) is yet to find out how many baby elephants have been abducted from the wild and how many of them have died while in captivity. It was in early 2000 that the first baby elephant was found in Pugoda in the Kirindiwela area. According to an animal rights lawyer the owners of the baby elephan...
2009-07-27 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Two baby elephants under five years old were taken away from their mothers, sparking anger in a world-renown elephant orphanage in central Sri Lanka, a local English newspaper said on Monday. The Island said the two baby tuskers were forcibly separated from their mothers by the Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela, the chief custodian of the Temple of the Tooth, on Saturday night at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, about 80 km northeast of the capital Colombo.
2009-04-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The National Trust of Sri Lanka will present another lecture in its ongoing monthly series - this time, 'The Wild Elephants of Sri Lanka' by Dr. Srilal Miththapala on April 30, at 6.30 p.m. at the Barefoot Gallery, Colombo 3. The talk will give a brief background of the evaluation of the elephants and the scientific classification of African and Asian species, the characteristics of Sri Lankan elephants along with the highlights of the historical and religious association that elephants have had...
2009-02-07 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Some of you may have visited the Elephant Transit Home (ETH), Eth Athuru Sevana, at the Udawalawe National Park. If you have been there, you would know just what a joyful experience it is to observe at close range all the elephants, especially the little ones, who reside there.
2009-01-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
A Wildlife Conservation Department survey has revealed that 2,241 elephants have died as a result of shooting, unknown reasons, electrocution, poisoning, accidents and natural and other causes from 1990 to 2007. The current elephant population is estimated at 3,500-4,000 and a gradual increase has been witnessed in Mahaweli and Wayamba regions during the last four decades. According to the survey, 100 elephants have died due to natural causes from 1990 to 2007 and a certain number of elephants t...
2009-01-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Kumudini Hettiarachchi
As controversy surrounded preparations to transfer two “babies” from the Elephant Transit Home (ETH) at Uda Walawe to the Pinnawela Orphanage, opinion among activists was divided whether this was a good or bad move. “We are hoping to move ‘Atlas’ and another baby elephant from ETH to Pinnawela on Sunday (today) or this week,” said W.A.D.A. Wijesooriya, Director-General of the Department of Wild Life Conservation (DWLC), when contacted by The Sunday Times.
2008-10-10 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Wildlife Conservation Department has planned to form 'Elephant Protection Societies' in the North Western wildlife preservation zone for minimising the elephant-human conflict. Assistant Director in charge of the North Western Zone Manjula Amararatne which consist of five districts such as Mannar, Puttalam, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura and Kurunegala, said that villagers who live in areas where elephant invasions are rampant will be trained in strategical methodologies that could be practised in d...
2008-10-06 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Despite the conflict between the two species Sri Lankans have managed to rescue the lives of five wild elephants fallen into agriculture wells in Kekirawa of the North Central Province during the last 3 days. According to Wildlife Department, during a rescue operation that took place on October 3rd to remove two elephant calves and a female elephant, an onlooker was attacked by the female elephant and later succumbed to his injuries. However, another female elephant died before being rescued on ...
2008-09-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankas Ministry of Public Recreation and Sports has allocated 80 million rupees to upgrade the Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala, about 90 km north of the capital Colombo, the government said. In a measure to attract more tourists to the world famous elephant sanctuary the Ministry has allocated funds build a ‘open zoo’ in an eco-friendly environment. The Ministry plans to lay an internal road network, erect a parapet wall around the zoo, construct an overhead bridge and build a w...
2008-09-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation
Constructive measures have been put in place to solve the human - elephant conflict. Minister of natural resources and environment Pathali Champika Ranawaka quoting a recent survey said that the number of elephants living in Sri Lanka has considerably increased. According to a detail survey it is reported that there were 673 elephants in 1993. But it has increased four times more than its original figure as of this date. There are more than 2420 elephants found in Mahaweli zone. But unfortunatel...
2008-09-05 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Environment Ministry will soon formulate a national level action plan with new regulations with regard to tamed elephants to ensure their well-being, Environment Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said. The regulations will comply with international conditions as well, the Minister told a ceremony at the Kotte Raja Maha Viharaya on Thursday. The Minister opened the sacred relic exhibition at the conclusion of the temple’s 108th annual perahera.
2008-09-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
At least two people and an elephant have died in the human-elephant conflict prevalent in SriLanka's rural north central and eastern areas, police said Tuesday. Police said that a 45-year-old man was killed as a result of being attacked by a wild elephant at Sigiriya, about 165 km from here in North Central Province. The ill-fated man was attacked at around 8 p.m. local time Monday while returning home. In the nearby Digampathaha area, another man was attacked by a wild elephant earlier on Monda...
2008-08-28 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
You don't always get thanked for your good deeds - certainly not these villagers anyway, as they found out after rescuing this Sri Lanka elephant after it fell into a local well. It seemed rather more angry than happy, giving the local cameraman who was filming a run for his money as well as the villagers who helped him. The baby elephant in question had fallen into a cultivation well in one of the farming areas in North Central Sri Lankan Province, it's an increasing sight as many of the elepha...
2008-08-24 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
The baby abduction from Kalubowila led to the discovery of a baby smuggling racket that shocked the nation. At present, Sri Lanka’s Wildlife Department officers are investigating trails of baby elephants allegedly being abducted from the wild. The recovery of a baby elephant illegally held without a proper permit in an estate close to Colombo is probably only the tip of this iceberg, they feel. The elephant is now in the Uda Walawe Elephant Transit Home.
2008-08-24 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Risidra Mendis
Can you imagine a perahera without an elephant? This is a thought that constantly crosses our minds especially with the fast dwindling elephant population in the country. The main attraction at the annual Kandy Esela Perahera is the majestic tusker, draped in a colourful costume decorated with beads and sequins, carrying the tooth relic. The tuskers and elephants are at times in musth but are forced by their mahouts to take part in the perahera, resulting in cases where elephants run amok and i...
2008-08-20 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Shakuntala Perera
No other animal in Sri Lanka has suffered the wrath of human interference like the elephant. Every year records a number of elephant deaths that the country can ill afford. If there are no ill planned elephant drives killing them, there are the gun shots. The latest in the series of causes for concern was the finding of a calf in chains at a location in Athurugiriya. The owner of the calf could not produce a proper license. The Flying Squad of the Wild Life Department found the three year old ma...
2008-03-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Yusof Sulaiman
Conservationists around the world are again breathing uneasy following word that Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war has caused the death of 193 elephants last year, up by 13 percent compared to the previous year. In a plan gone wrong, park warden J A Weerasingam blames the action of villagers. "They are shooting my animals," said Weerasingam.
2008-03-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Namali Premawardhana
It is quite a feat to get inside an elephant’s mind, to discover without interaction with the imposing and intimidating animal, the trials and tribulations it faces in daily life; its wants and needs. “Tranquil Footsteps” is one man’s effort to help us achieve that. Through his book, which follows one herd of elephants living within the sanctuary of the Uda Walawe National Park, Srilal Miththapala not only affords the reader valuable and interesting information about this most majestic m...
2008-03-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
Elephants are generally animals on the move, but this bull elephant frequenting Suriyawewa stood lethargically in one place. Soon it collapsed. The wildlife ranger of Hambantota H.M. Abeykoon and veterinary surgeon for the region Dr. Suhada Jayawardena tried giving water to the animal. The elephant’s jaws were pierced and its tongue badly damaged. Something had exploded inside its mouth seriously injuring the animal. The veterinary surgeon immediately started giving it saline. Despite their ef...
2008-03-10 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Security forces armed with loud hailers were deployed in eastern Sri Lanka Monday to drive away wild elephants blocking access to polling booths, police said. Villagers in Wellaveli told the authorities that they were unable to vote at the first local elections in 14 years because a herd of elephants had blocked their polling booth, a police official in the area said. "We sent a team of commandos in armoured personnel carriers and loud hailers and sirens to drive away the elephants," the officia...
2008-03-08 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. John Mackie, Canwest News Service
A catchy name is a key ingredient to success. As is a unique product. Mr. Ellie Pooh has both. Mr. Ellie Pooh is called Mr. Ellie Pooh because it offers paper products made of elephant dung in Sri Lanka. Honest. "It's about 70 per cent dung," explains company founder Karl Wald over the phone from frigid Grand Forks, North Dakota.
2008-03-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources,
In Sri Lanka our Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance (1937) and National Policy on elephants (1996) strictly prohibited culling as a measure to control elephant population. Our culture is based on compassion to all living beings and this too does not permit such measures. Capturing and domestication measures too are being restricted by the law. Our Government signed the CITES (Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Animals & Plants) so that exportation and importation of...
2008-03-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Wasantha Chandrapala
The duel between man and beast does not seem to have an end and the situation seems to be worsening by the day. The result is that both man and beast die in the confrontation. While an elephant at Dighawapiya area in Ampara district was killed in early February, on the 26th of last month a wild elephant killed a farmer in Ruhunugama village. Other villages where the menace is rampant in this district are Kotavehera, Suduwella and Vijithapura where at sundown elephants stray into paddy fields des...
2008-02-28 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Wasantha Ramanayake
"Asokamala" was born and bred in captivity and therefore could not be released to the wilderness, Wildlife Director General Ananda Weerasuriya stated in his objections to a Fundamental Rights Application before the Supreme Court. The Director General added that the elephant was born in the Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala and rared in captivity. The rights application was filed by petitioner Vijitha Fernando of Mt. Lavinia, the treasurer of the organisation, Society for the Protection of Animal R...
2008-02-03 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sanath Weerasuriya
Tranquil Footsteps, the dream book of Srilal Miththapala, was launched last week Srilal is a serious wildlife and nature enthusiast with a penchant for elephants. 'Tranquil Footsteps' a long awaited dream of Srilal Miththapala which tells the story about the elephants of Udawalawe National Park and it traces the life of a female elephant and her family, living in the Uda Walawe National Park during the period of 1998-2002.
2007-12-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Yerevan Zoo in Armenia was in the news last year as animal rights activists battled Sri Lankan authorities in the Supreme Court to stop nine year old Asokamala, born at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage from being exported to that zoo. Rights activists say the Yerevan Zoo which boasts of 2,300 animals is in a deplorable state. Recreational Minister, Gamini Lokuge who was the mover and shaker of the proposed gift reportedly denied to media, claims by animal rights activists that there was a co...
2007-11-24 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Kumudini Hettiarachchi
An elephant has been taken to court, not just any court but the highest in the land, the Supreme Court. Asokamala, born and bred at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, has kicked up dust being in the centre of a controversy over whether she should be “exported” as a gift from Sri Lanka to Armenia. While animal rights activists battle the authorities in the Supreme Court, in a fundamental rights case, Asokamala, oblivious to being in the eye of the storm is following her routine. Her fate will ...
2007-10-31 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Supreme Court today issued an order not to transfer nine-year-old female elephant "Asokamala" to the Yerevan Zoo in Armenia. The court made this order following a lawsuit filed by an animal rights activist Vijitha Fernando who protested that the cold climate in Armenia does not suit the animal.
2007-10-21 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Isuri Kaviratne
The Cabinet has approved the gifting of an elephant to Armenia while Wild Life officials were still studying the suitability of the weather and other conditions for the animal. The move has drawn angry responses from various groups closely following the issue of gifting the elephant Asokamala. Environment Minister Champika Ranawaka told The Sunday Times that the Ministry is still considering the suitability of the weather and the condition of the zoo before issuing the permission to send the nin...
2007-10-19 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan animal rights activists have made a strong plea to the government to follow India and stop the practice of gifting animals to foreign countries as this is not only cruel, but depletes Sri Lankas fauna. It is time we took India as an example and stopped the practice of gifting animals to foreign countries as a diplomatic gesture, said Sagarica Rajakarunanaike, President of Sathva Mithra, about the Sri Lankan cabinets decision to gift an elephant to an ill-equipped zoo in cold and inhos...
2007-10-17 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka will donate a she elephant to Armenia in response to a request by the Armenian Government to consolidate bilateral friendly relations between the two countries. The Cabinet has approved a memorandum submitted in this connection, the Government Information Department said. Director General National Zoological Gardens H. Dissanayake said accordingly a nine-year-old she elephant named 'Asokamala' from the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage will be sent to Armenia shortly.
2007-10-15 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nimal Wijesinghe
About 160 elephants and 50 persons die from the elephant-human conflict, Environment Minister Patali Champaka Ranawaka said. With the Environmental Development Ministry embarking on a full-scale environmental development plan islandwide, the Minister has declared a “Green month” from today.
2007-09-22 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Wildlife Department sources say that 117 wild elephants died so far this year. The majority of the elephant deaths were reported from the Northwestern Wildlife Zone which inhabits the most number of elephants. Fifty four elephants were killed there. In the Mahaweli zones 37 elephants were killed. Twenty were killed in South and two killings each were reported from Central, Yala, Bundala and East Wildlife zones.
2007-09-18 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Colombo University Senior Professor on Ecology Sarath Kotagama says that through the estimates in the past 100 years and the records on man – elephant conflicts, he can prove that the countrys elephant population grew despite the popular belief of decline. He points out that the elephant population was less than 1,000 according to 1953 estimations. The 1973 estimates accounted the elephant population between 1600 – 2200. According to an estimate conducted by Dr. Nandana Athapattu and Man...
2007-09-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
C-Pack members were discussing Big-Houses proposal to gift an elephant to Romania. But Mano said they could gift more elephants after November once the remaining Em Pees quit Green leader after their move to topple G-ment fails with the budget vote.
2007-09-12 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Wildlife Department office of the Trincomalee district of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka announced that 40 wild elephants were killed so far in this year in Trincomalee district alone. Meanwhile, in the adjacent Sigiriya area Wildlife officers and villagers were working round the clock to rescue two wild elephants that had fallen into a cultivation well near Indugaswewa on Monday night.
2007-09-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The zoo accommodates a number of primates, some in larger areas than the big cats. But the most distressing sight is that of the elephants, five of them, all chained to the ground. Thankfully, Alipore zoo now has them in open spaces surrounded by moats, although it still cannot stop visitors from feeding them all kinds of rubbish. Yet the elephants are the USP of the Colombo zoo which, together with the famous elephant orphanage in Pinnawala and the farm at Gonapola, form the National Zoological...
2007-09-05 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Tamed elephants are a dwindling breed in Sri Lanka that has posed a problem for the conduct of the numerous Peraheras, Environment Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said. According to the Minister, there are only 137 tamed elephants in the country and it has posed a major obstacle in conducting of nearly 72 annual peraheras throughout the country. Ranawaka said tuskers too are a rapidly dwindling species with only 17 of the breed found in Sri Lanka. This is a substantial decrease and is bound to...
2007-09-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The 46th elephant cub born in Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka recently was ceremoniously named today as Vidula. The elephant cub received the name after a children’s radio channel initiated by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) recently. The elephant cub got the name Vidula on the request of the pioneer of the radio channel, Sunil Sarath Perera, the Director General of SLBC. Vidula was born to Sapumalee last week. He is the 82nd member of the elephant family in captivity a...
2007-08-31 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Champika Ranwaka says that the Ministry needs Rs. 10 billion per year for the management of wild elephants in the country. However, the Ministry receives only Rs. 3 billion for all its work, the Minister says. The Minister also pointed out that the shortage of tamed elephants would be a problem in future since there are only 137 tamed elephants while there are 72 famous cultural pageants per year countrywide.
2007-08-29 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Department and the All Lanka Tamed Elephant Owners' Association are planning to sign a Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to the welfare and safety of the tamed elephants. The MOU now being prepared will be signed in September, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources said. The government aims to interact positively with the tamed elephant owners to protect the dwindling elephant population in the country.
2007-08-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Forty sixth elephant cub was born in Sri Lanka’s Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage recently. An elephant named Sapumali gave birth to the new cub. The officials said that the cub is in good health. The orphanage originally founded in order to afford care and protection to the many orphaned elephants found injured in various accidents in the jungle has its own generation born in captivity now. Pinnawala, the largest herd of captive elephants in the world with 81 elephants in total is a major tourist...
2007-08-19 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Marisa de Silva
A private agricultural farm that is coming up in a major elephant corridor between the Wasgamuwa and Maduru Oya national parks could precipitate the human-elephant conflict in the future, environmentalists have warned. Environmentalist Samantha Suranjan said there is an important elephant pathway crossing the Nilgala, Maduru Oya, Wasgamuwa, Floodplain National Park and the Somawathiya National Park. He said this had been identified by a Mahaweli Environment Report (Tippetts Abbett McCarthy Strat...
2007-08-17 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Chamikara Weerasinghe
The Environment and Natural Resources Ministry has stepped up action to implement a pilot project to arrest the human-elephant conflict in Yala and Lunugamwehera through its recently established Elephant Conservation Trust Fund. Environment and Natural Resources Minister Champika Ranawaka said yesterday that bureaucratic red tape had been overcome to carry out the project. The Government has decided to allocate Rs. 100 million to the fund from the Treasury to be returned once sufficient funds ar...
2007-08-05 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The conservation of a species necessitates the provision of all resources (habitat, security, food, water etc.) necessary to maintain a stable population into the long-term future. Conservation has two aspects; one is the protection of the species and the other, scientific management of the species and the resources necessary for its conservation. The continued existence of the Asian elephant in the wild is threatened not only by the actions of some but also due to others not taking any action.
2007-08-03 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Tamed Elephant Owners Association laments that the number of tamed elephants have dropped gradually. The Association figures point out that only 137 tamed elephants are now in the country. About 110 of them are over 50 years of age. There are only 18 tuskers among them and seven belong to the sacred Temple of Tooth in Kandy. The Secretary of the Tamed Elephant Owners Association Damsiri Karunarathna says that the number of tamed elephants did not increase after the licenses to capture ...
2007-07-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The animal, whose name is Chooti Mahattaya, meaning Little Master, damaged a pair of three-wheeler taxis bringing traffic, and the festivities to an abrupt halt after something in the crowd disturbed him. As hundreds watched him, the 3m (10ft) beast then set off down the road with a team of mahouts – elephant drivers giving chase. However, Chooti proved to be no Dumbo, slinking off to the shops to try to get them off his tail in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
2007-05-13 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The number of elephants that die from gunshot injuries in Sri Lanka has increased since automatic weapons were provided to home guards in villages under terrorist threat, Wildlife Department figures point out. Some 160 elephants died in the North Western Wildlife Zone last year, and 23 of them were victims of home guards’ guns. Over 200 elephants died last year in Sri Lanka due to human-elephant conflict.
2007-04-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. K. G. H. MUNIDASA
Over 50 years ago, this story concerning a she elephant at the Dehiwala Zoological Gardens was published in the local press. Meena was a very docile animal and her keepers had no problem looking after her. But one day, she started to behave in an unusual manner. She strained at her fetters in obvious excitement as if trying to free herself. The crowds of visitors gave her wide berth, thinking that something unforeseen had befallen the poor beast. Meena behaved in this manner for over 36 hours.
2007-04-07 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Gagani Weerakoon
Amidst reports of an unprecedented number of elephants dying of starvation at the Lunugamwehera National Park, the government yesterday launched a full scale probe into the death of a wild elephant due to negligence by wildlife officials. Environment Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told the Daily Mirror it was reported that three officials had failed to take swift action to save the elephant stuck in a cesspit on Wednesday as they were ‘watching a world cup cricket match, despite continuous ...
2007-03-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
In October 1995 a group of Sri Lankans and Americans met at the Taprobane Sri Lanka restaurant in New York City, convened by Conservation Biologist, Ravi Corea to incorporate the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society (SLWCS). The project known as Saving Elephants by Helping People has been in operation for the past 10 years and has installed 41 Kilometers of electric fencing since its inception.
2007-03-10 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Walter Jayawardhana
An army search operation found the eight bullet ridden bodies of two army officers, two army soldiers, the officer in charge of the Wilpattu Wild Life Park and three wild life rangers, believed tortured and killed by the rogue cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The men men were in the Wilpattu Park making a feasibility study of repairing the Ikiriyagolla Irrigation Tank which was the main source of water for the large herds of wild elephants in the park.
2007-03-09 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Wild Life Conservation Department sources revealed that over the last 15 years, 1,850 elephants, 1,192 of them, male, have been reported killed. This has reduced the country's dwindling elephant population from 4000 to 2000. Wild Life Conservation Department points out that every year, around 150 elephants and between 50-70 human die because of man-elephant conflict. Data from Sri Lanka’s wildlife conservation department point to an increasing trend.
2007-02-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nimal S.Bogahawatta
The successive governments since independence have failed to find a solution to the human elephant conflict that resulted in massive destruction of human lives, land and fields and the extinction of elephant population in the country, which is a national asset. 400 houses were among the property destroyed by wild elephants. The people in affected areas said the electric fence now being erected by Lunugamvehera Wildlife Conservation office is only a temporary measure.
2007-02-13 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The plight of Sri Lankan elephants has been thrown into the spotlight as the 6th Annual Ceylon Elephant Polo Association (CEPA) tournament opens tomorrow. As fears grow that the Sri Lankan elephant could become extinct by the end of the 21st century, Sri Lankan wildlife personality Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne has been speaking out. The tournament, which runs from 14 - 17 February, will hold a number of events to raise money for the Sri Lankan elephant.
2007-02-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Childers Jayawardhana
Eminent conservationist, intellectual, excellent administrator and lover of music, Lyn de Alwis passed away on November 22, 2006. The demise of Lyn de Alwis, who rendered a great service to both the Zoological Gardens and the Wildlife Service in Sri Lanka and in foreign lands is a loss to the nation and the world. His love of the wilderness, the natural environment was second nature to him from his younger days.
2007-02-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The streets of Colombo transform under the weight of 100 colourful elephants during February's full moon. The event usually has as many as 1000 performers. The Navam Perahera, which started in 1979, attracts more than a million spectators every year to the Gangaramaya Temple, at Hunupitiya on the banks of the picturesque Beira Lake.
2007-02-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. ColomboPage News Desk
Sri Lanka's Association of the Owners of Tamed Elephants has requested from the government to provide them elephants or to allow them to catch them. The Chairman of the Association of the Owners of Tamed Elephants, Nilanga Dela Bandara says that Sri Lanka now has only 150 tamed elephants and 120 of them are over sixty years old. He pointed out that only six elephants are eligible for carrying caskets in religious processions.
2007-01-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. ColomboPage News Desk
Sixty-four wild elephants and twenty people died in Sri Lanka's North Western Wild Life Zone in 2006 as a result of human-elephant conflict, according to figures from the Department of Wild Life Conservation. Six of the 64 dead wild elephants were tuskers, the Department said. Hunting for tusks, shooting to avoid crop damage, railway accidents and poisoning were the major causes for the elephant deaths.
2007-01-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. ColomboPage News Desk
Sri Lanka will present an elephant calf to China next month to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Cabinet spokesperson Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said, “As a token of remembrance, an elephant-calf, ‘Migara’, would be presented to the people of China.”
2006-11-12 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Vindya Amaranayake
The Wildlife Conservation Department has temporarily halted plans to capture and auction two rogue elephants in the Galgamuwa-Maho area, upon protests by the environmental activists, The Nation learns. The department was planning to anaesthetise and capture the two elephants, and auction them on the site on November 9 and 10, and sell them to the highest bidders.
2006-10-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Manshark
I was watching a tv prog today about Sri Lankan Elephants. And what did I learn from it? I really don’t know for it left me asking more questions at the end than I had at the beginning. At the end of the day, which ones are the best? Those born in shelter who knows not the ways of the world? OR Those born in the wild who knows not common decency and self-respect?
2006-10-09 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Wild elephants dragged two women and a seven-year-old girl out of their huts and then crushed them to death in a village in eastern Sri Lanka, plocal police officer AWA Gafar said on Monday. The elephants entered the village of Mohinipuram in Ampara district at dusk on Sunday, charging at residents and creating panic among villagers. He said the elephants pulled the victims from their homes then killed them.
2006-05-18 - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka.
Some of Sri Lanka's wildest, most destructive elephants will be getting a reprieve despite their bad behaviour - but they'll have to spend some time in rehab first. Elephants that rampage through villages, destroying crops or killing people, will be caught, tamed and put to work in the conservation department, an official said Thursday.
2006-05-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Wild Life Department sources reveal that the number of deaths in human-elephant conflicts in Sri Lanka has increased rapidly. Today an average of 150 elephants are killed annually by people, while the elephants kill an average of around 40 people per year. These averages rose from 50 elephant deaths and 12 human deaths per year at the end of the 1980s.
2006-02-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
Dozens of captive elephants raised funds for their upkeep Saturday by running races, and playing tug-of-war and dancing to the rhythm of traditional drums, during an elephant show in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Elephant trainers maneuvered their animals - draped in bright colored cloths - through a lively game of polo amid loud cheers from the boisterous crowd, most of whom were children.
2005-07-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Environment Ministry has begun a project to move about 160 wild elephants, currently roaming the public roads in the Kurunegala district, back to protected areas. The action is meant to save the lives of both humans and beasts.According to Environment Minister A.H.M. Fowzie, the main goal of the project is to minimize conflict between man and elephant and save the lives of both. The wild elephants will be driven back to Wilpaththu and Thabbowa sanctuaries.
2005-04-28 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Following a request from the Sri Lankan government, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has decided to help protect the country's elephants. A proposal was submitted by the Sri Lankan government to the ADB asking for Rs. 51 million for this purpose. However, the funds have not been finalized yet.
2004-12-20 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Florence Wickramage, Sri Lanka Daily News
Two more wild elephants met with a railway accident Friday morning at the 137 and a half mile post on the Habarana-Kantale Railway track. The she elephant was seriously injured while the young elephant died on the spot. This is the second accident to occur at the very spot which claimed the lives of two wild elephants nearly two months ago.
2004-10-18 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
In an unprecedented move a group of Asian elephant conservationists were taken on a tour of the conservation and research sites in Kenya. The group consisted of thirteen individuals from eight Asian countries.
2004-09-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Reuters
Sri Lanka has closed its biggest wildlife reserve because a severe drought has dried up watering holes and left wild elephants thirsty, angry and ready to charge, park officials say.
2004-07-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Helen Pilcher
A rare albino elephant has been spotted roaming Sri Lanka's Ruhunu National Park, the first recorded sighting in the country. The pale-skinned pachyderm, thought to be around 11 years old, lives with a 17-strong herd of adult females and youngsters. Tracking the herd's movements could help researchers devise new strategies for the protection and management of Sri Lanka's elephants.
1999-01-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Wimalaratne O, Kodikara DS.Department of Rabies Diagnosis and Research, Medical Research Institute
Wimalaratne O, Kodikara DS.
2024-07-10 - Dublin, Ireland.
Dublin Zoo has confirmed that a third elephant has tested positive for a virus which has left two other elephants dead over the last ten days. Eight-year-old Avani and seven-year-old Zinda died from E...
2024-06-18 - Houston, United States. Houston Zoo
Tess, a 40-year-old Asian elephant at Houston Zoo, has been given the first-ever dose of an mRNA vaccine created by virologists at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) to prevent the deadly elephant endot...
2024-04-26 - Blackpool, United Kingdom.
The latest round of pregnancy tests at Blackpool Zoo has revealed that two of its elephants are expecting babies. Mother and daughter Noorjahan and Esha are both pregnant and due to give birth in late...
2024-04-02 - Sen Monorom, Cambodia.
There was sad news from Mondulkiri Province, with the death of 2 year old elephant “Chi Pich” being announced. Sources from the Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment Organization (ELIE) said ...
2024-03-26 - Kochi, India.
Popular tusker Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan, 55, 55, died at Mangalamkunnu in Palakkad on Monday. The elephant owned by M A Haridasan had been under treatment for the past few months.
2024-03-23 - Kegalle, Sri Lanka.
The 76th elephant calf was born at the Rambukkana Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on March 20.This baby elephant was born to 32-year-old she-elephant Shanthi and 19-year-old Pandu at the Pinnawala Elepha...
2024-03-23 - Pretoria, South Africa.
In the ongoing efforts to curb poaching and snaring of animals within the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders, South African National Parks (SANParks) is working to create more partnerships with neighbour...
2024-03-15 - , United States.
After weeks of voting and thousands of submissions, the Toledo Zoo has officially chosen the name of their precious baby elephant and we're personally thrilled about the news! Ladies and gentleman, Ki...
2024-03-09 - Tucson, United States.
A baby elephant was born at Reid Park Zoo. The zoo said Semba, the facility’s African elephant matriarch, gave birth to a 265-pound calf around 3:31 a.m. Friday, March 8. Reid Park Zoo said the calf...
2024-03-04 - Copenhagen, Denmark.
A female baby elephant in Copenhagen Zoo has been named Chin after the Tha Chin river in central Thailand. The elephant was born last week in the Danish zoo. The zookeepers, who take care of the young...
2024-02-29 - Alappuzha, India.
Evoor Kannan, the elephant known for his murderous rage and with a history of killing two mahouts is in a bad mood these days. He had been gentle under the care of his former Mahout Sharath Parippally...
2024-02-20 - Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands.
African elephant Punda has become the mother of a healthy elephant calf after a 22-month pregnancy. This is the third calf born in the Safari Park Beekse Bergen k in four months. Never before have thr...
2024-02-15 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The zoo said Tsuni died Thursday after a sudden, brief battle with elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). Her EEHV was detected through routine blood testing on Feb. 8, even though she presente...
2024-02-15 - Seoul, South Korea.
The oldest female elephant in South Korea passed away Tuesday at a zoo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, at the age of 59, zoo officials said Thursday. The female elephant, named Sakura, had suffered fr...
2024-01-30 - Bangalore, India.
The Bannerghatta Biological Park is brimming with excitement as it welcomes a delightful new addition—a baby boy elephant calf. This adorable arrival brings the elephant count in the Bannerghatta zo...
2024-01-27 - Guruvayur, India.
Elephant Kannan, of the Guruvayur Devaswom Elephant Camp, a nine-time winner of the festival-related elephant race, has passed away. His demise was around 5:30 pm on Saturday. The tusker's age at the ...
2024-01-27 - Koh Nhek, Cambodia.
Villagers found a baby elephant dead in Koh Nhek district, Mondulkiri province in the middle of the forest on January 26, 2024, suspected of being shot. Mondulkiri Provincial department of environm...
2024-01-13 - Beijing, China.
A recent study published in the journal eLife has uncovered new findings on the development of dextrous trunks by indigenous elephants. According to Dr. Shi-Qi Wang, a senior author of the research, t...
2024-01-13 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia.
The Tesso Nilo National Park in Pelalawan District, Riau Province, again lost one of its Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) after a poacher allegedly killed it for its tusks. The 46-year...
2024-01-11 - New York, United States.
In a narrow but sprawling curatorial space at the uptown museum, The Secret World of Elephants, now opened, tells the story of elephant species and their relatives through life-size models, videos, gr...
