• If a person cannot come up with justifiable reasons as to how an elephant was obtained, such a person should not be granted the opportunity to register the animal

By Kalani Kumarasinghe

State Minister of Wildlife Protection WimalaweeraDissanayake said that he is not in agreement with several clauses in a controversial new gazette dated August 19, 2021 under which captive elephants can be employed for work. 

When the Daily Mirror contacted Minister Dissanayake he said that the gazette is pending approval in parliament, where he hopes several amendments can be made to the new orders. “I don’t agree with the conditions that say that elephants can be employed for work. However a multi-disciplinary committee representing several ministries compiled this gazette, including the Ministry of Buddha Sasana,” Minister Dissanayake said. 

“The Ministry of Buddha Sasana especially has to be compassionate and embrace kindness. I don’t know if they possess those qualities. A committee including ministry secretaries drafted this document and I was only given the document to sign,” he said. 

State Minister Dissanayake recently issued the gazette which details a series of restrictions including the prevention of mahouts consuming liquor or drugs while employed, as well as the introduction of a biometric identity card for elephants. The document also highlights several measures to be practiced by mahouts and owners of elephants, including a mandatory two and half hour bath time every day. The extraordinary gazette titled Wildlife and Flora (Protection, Welfare and Registration of Domestic Elephants) Regulation No. 1 of 2021also details a number of measures introduced to safeguard ‘tamed’ elephants. However conservationists and activists have raised strong objections, stating that it is a document which disguises an effort to entrust elephants to racketeers.  

• The Ministry of Buddha Sasana especially has to be compassionate and embrace kindness