Gifting elephants – a new dimension to elephant issue

Law enforcement authorities have been busy rounding up illegally held elephants – mostly young ones in various parts of the country for the past few months. And several cases filed against the parties responsible for keeping these animals in captivity without a permits as required by the law are pending in courts. 

Meanwhile, some Buddhist prelates and leading citizens in the country have made representations in this regard to the Big Boss and the second in command in yahapalanaya which have now placed the issue in a new light. It has also now been brought to light that the successive governments in the past have made it a practice to gift elephants under Sannas-patra (acts of conferment).

According to records available, even a high political authority of the present government had gifted elephants to a Buddhist temple going by the Sannas-patra procedure. 

Given this new development indications are that government is likely to take a fresh look at the entire question of prosecuting those found domesticating elephants without a permit, they say.