Sri Lanka to go ahead with elephant count despite protests
COLOMBO |
COLOMBO |
Aug 10 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka on Wednesday said it would go ahead with its first-ever wild elephant census, with the help of the military and in spite of conservationist protests that it is a ploy to pluck the best ones for domesticated use in temples, tourism and labour.
The Indian Ocean island nation on Thursday was due to begin a three-day census of all wild elephants. Naturalists estimate Sri Lanka has between 5,000 and 7,000.
Conservation groups were initially planning to deploy off-road vehicles and around 200 volunteers to help with the count.
But they pulled out after local media quoted Wildlife Minister S.M. Chandrasena saying the strongest young elephants would be given to temples to meet a shortage in a nation where the pachyderms are used in a wide variety of roles.
"This is a ploy to identify the tuskers and domesticate them," Wildlife Conservation Forum Chairman Rukshan Jayawardene told Reuters. "By domesticating the wild elephants, we might lose the wild elephant population."
Chandrasena could not be reached for a comment.
Sri Lanka traditionally uses tamed elephants for cultural pageants at Buddhist and Hindu temples, domestic transportation, heavy work and tourism, which is booming after the end of a three-decade war in 2009.
"We can't stop this now as we have spent lot on this," Wildlife Conservation Department Director General H.D Rathnayake told Reuters. "We will use about 1,000-1,500 military personnel to conduct the census in the north and east."
Conservationists say many domesticated elephants die early due to lack of food, mistreatment and exhaustion. The lot of their wild cousins is no better.
Human-elephant conflict so far this year has claimed the lives of 23 people and 149 wild elephants, while 228 of the animals and 89 people perished in similar circumstances last year, according to the Wildlife Department. (Editing by Bryson Hull and Jonathan Thatcher)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/10/srilanka-wildlife-elephants-idUSL3E7J93FY20110810==================================================
Sri Lanka wildlife groups boycott elephant census
Wildlife groups in Sri Lanka say they are withdrawing support to an elephant census as they fear it will be used to bring more animals into captivity.
The island-wide three-day count is due to start on Thursday.
There are about 4,000 wild elephants in the country and a smaller number of domesticated ones used in sacred roles in Buddhist and Hindu temples.
This census is a complicated task, with thousands of staff and simultaneous counts at waterholes.
Officials say it will be more of an estimate than an exact count.
The government says the purpose is to help protect the species given its dwindling forest habitat.
Conservation organisations would be happy with that.
What they are not happy about is remarks on Sunday by Minister of Wildlife SM Chandrasena.
He said that during the survey, strong young elephant calves would be identified for capture, to be "donated" to temples for use in festivals.
A group of 30 conservation organisations has condemned the remarks and announced it will not take part in the census.
Spokesman Ajantha Palihawadana said such captures would interfere with nature by removing some of the best genetic stock from the elephant population, including some with tusks which are relatively rare.
He said it would perpetuate the current trend of what he alleges is the regular trapping of baby elephants on the orders of "influential people".
Despite the minister's remarks, the head of the wildlife department told the BBC he was not aware of plans to give a new batch of elephants to temples.
Sri Lankan wildlife activists boycott wild elephant census
Conservation groups accuse government of using census as a 'smokescreen' to find healthiest youngnimals to put to work
Jason Burke, South Asia correspondentA Sri Lankan elephant and its mahout take a dip near the country's largest city, Colombo. Photograph: Eranga Jayawardena/AP
Sri Lanka will begin its first census of wild elephants, despite protests from conservationists that the operation is aimed predominantly at finding the healthiest beasts to use in temples, for tourism and for industrial labour.
Conservation groups initially planned to deploy off-road vehicles and provide around 200 volunteers to help with the count, but have now pulled out after local media quoted the wildlife minister SM Chandrasena saying the strongest young elephants would be given to temples.
Sri Lanka traditionally uses tamed elephants for cultural pageants at Buddhist and Hindu temples, domestic transportation, heavy work and within the tourism industry, which is booming in the country after the end of a 30-year civil war in 2009. Wealthy landowners have also traditionally kept elephants as status symbols.
"This [census] is actually a smokescreen to capture wild elephants when they are young and basically take them for domestication," said Rukshan Jayawardene, chairman of Wildlife Conservation Forum.
Jayawardene said one concern was that elephants "will end up in private residences working long hours".
"Breeding males are already in danger of dying out because of the various threats they face on a daily basis," he added. "The young tuskers that one day might grow up to be breeding males are going to be in temples or homes and they will be worked. On humanitarian grounds it is wrong and as a predominantly Buddhist country this is indefensible."
The minister could not be reached for a comment. However, the director general of the country's department of conservation, HD Rathnayake, told the Reuters news agency the operation would go ahead despite the boycott.
During the decades of civil war much of the shrub and jungle in the northern part of the island nation, dominated by the Tamil minority, lay outside government authority. As a result the new census would be the first to cover the entire country for almost 100 years.
More than a thousand soldiers would undertake the count in the north and east, Rathnayake said.
Naturalists estimate Sri Lanka has between 5,000 and 7,000 elephants, only a third as many as at the time of the last full count a century ago.
So far this year conflicts between the animals and humans have claimed the lives of 23 people and 149 wild elephants, while 89 people and 228 elephants died in similar circumstances in 2010, according to government figures. Most elephants are killed by farmers protecting their crops.
Elephants elsewhere in the region face similar problems. As in Sri Lanka, in India a booming population and economic growth have placed the historic grazing lands of elephants under huge pressure. To avoid exhausting fodder in one area, the herds migrate. Their movement brings new dangers with dozens dying on railway lines or caught in live electric cables.
Other hazards include homemade alcohol. Late last year elephants in eastern India got drunk on local hooch, killed three people and destroyed 60 homes in a four-day rampage. The elephants had been attracted to piles of barrels of a fermented rice-based drink stockpiled before a village festival.
Such incidents are increasingly common, experts say, as the animals' natural habitat grows increasingly rare.
"These herds are effectively semi-urbanised," Dr Amirtharaj Williams, Asian rhino and elephant programme co-ordinator for the World Wildlife Fund told the Guardian after last year's rampage.
"There are elephants who are getting a taste for food that humans prepare because it is tastier, stronger-smelling and often more nutritious, and that includes rice or molasses-based drinks. Some go looking for it."
Around 400 people are killed each year by elephants in India and nearly a million hectares of farmland are damaged. Around 100 elephants are killed by villagers every year. Latest estimates put India's elephant population at around 21,000 – the largest in Asia.
==================================================
Sri Lankan elephant census faces boycott by conservationists
Wildlife groups will boycott Sri Lanka's first census of elephants because they fear the count is a smokescreen for capturing and domesticating the animals.
The Wildlife Department said it will go ahead with the count from tomorrow to gather information on the population and help prepare conservation policies. About 20 wildlife groups had agreed to deploy about 200 volunteers to help the department count the animals. But they announced yesterday they were withdrawing their support after the Wildlife Minister, SM Chandrasena, was quoted as saying 300 young elephants will be captured and handed over to Buddhist temples after the census.
"This is actually a smokescreen to capture wild elephants when they are young, specially tuskers, and take them for domestication," said Rukshan Jayawardene, chairman of Wildlife Conservation Forum. He feared that most of these animals would not end up in temples, but "in private residences working long hours".
=========================================================================
Wildlife groups boycott Sri Lankan elephant census
Wildlife groups will boycott Sri Lanka's first census of elephants because they fear the count is a "smoke screen" for capturing and domesticating the animals.
The Wildlife Department said it will go ahead with the count on Thursday, which is aimed at gathering information on the population and helping prepare conservation policies.
About 20 wildlife groups had agreed to deploy about 200 volunteers to help the department count the animals. But they announced on Tuesday they were withdrawing their support after Wildlife Minister S.M. Chandransena was quoted as saying 300 young elephants will be captured and handed over to Buddhist temples after the census.
"This is actually a smoke screen to capture wild elephants when they are young, specially tuskers and basically take in them for domestication," said Rukshan Jayawardene, chairman of Wildlife Conservation Forum.
He feared that most of these animals will not end up in temples, but "will end up in private residences working long hours."
Costumed and decorated pachyderms are used in Buddhist ceremonies as they parade through streets carrying the sacred relics of the Lord Buddha. They are also ridden by tourists and used to carry heavy weights, such as in the logging industry.
Mr Chandrasena could not be reached for comment. But the head of the Wildlife Department H.D. Ratnayake denied plans of capturing and taming wild elephants and said the department will go ahead with the census.
Elephants will be counted for three days as they come to drink from water holes, reservoirs and tanks. The population is believed to be between 5,000 and 6,000, about half the numbers of the last count a century ago.
More recent counts were limited because of the quarter-century civil war that ended in 2009.
Elephants are endangered in Sri Lanka. They are increasingly entering villages in search of food, and around 250 are killed every year, mostly by farmers protecting people or their crops.
About 50 people die in elephant attacks each year, too.
Activists fear that capturing and removing more elephants from their habitat would further reduce elephant population.
Most tamed elephants die early due to lack of proper food, loss of habitat and working very hard, said Shantha Jayaweera, another wildlife activist.
==================================================
SL wildlife groups boycott elephant censusSri Lankan wildlife groups have said that they are withdrawing support to an elephant census over fears that it would be used to bring more animals into captivity.
The island-wide three-day count is due to start on Thursday, and reports suggest that about 4,000 wild elephants are there in the country. A smaller number of domesticated ones are used in sacred roles in Buddhist and Hindu temples.
This census is a complicated task, and officials believe that it will be more of an estimate than an exact count, the BBC reports.
Minister of Wildlife S. M. Chandrasena had said on Sunday that strong young elephant calves would be identified for capture and be "donated" to temples for use in festivals.
A group of 30 conservation organisations have condemned the remarks and announced it will not take part in the census.
Spokesman Ajantha Palihawadana said such captures would interfere with nature by removing some of the best genetic stock from the elephant population, including some with tusks that are relatively rare. (Source: newkerala.com)
The island-wide three-day count is due to start on Thursday, and reports suggest that about 4,000 wild elephants are there in the country. A smaller number of domesticated ones are used in sacred roles in Buddhist and Hindu temples.
This census is a complicated task, and officials believe that it will be more of an estimate than an exact count, the BBC reports.
Minister of Wildlife S. M. Chandrasena had said on Sunday that strong young elephant calves would be identified for capture and be "donated" to temples for use in festivals.
A group of 30 conservation organisations have condemned the remarks and announced it will not take part in the census.
Spokesman Ajantha Palihawadana said such captures would interfere with nature by removing some of the best genetic stock from the elephant population, including some with tusks that are relatively rare. (Source: newkerala.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment