Killing of wild elephants going on unchecked

By Ranjith Rajapakse   

President of the Sri Lanka Janatha Workers’ Front, Chamira Perera said a secret ploy was being hatched by the government to exterminate the wild elephant population in the country as a short cut to resolve the human-elephant conflict.  

He told the media in Hatton that at least four elephants are killed every day and that 38 wild elephants had been killed for the last eleven days.  

“Killing of wild elephants is going on unchecked and it is well planned by the government. A Civil Security Department officer had shot a domesticated elephant on chain recently during the Mahiyangana Perahera. He came out with the excuse that he was under the impression that it was a wild elephant. It is a clear indication that wild elephants are being killed by officers who have received instructions to do so. It is not the people who shoot the wild elephants but officers who have been provided with guns and ammunition,” he said.