අනුර බාලසූරිය, ජගත් කනහැරආරච්චි
දීපව්යාප්ත මට්ටමින් පසුගියදා සිදුකරන ලද ප්රථම වල් අලි සමීක්ෂණයට අනුව මෙරට වල් අලින් 5879 ක් සිටින බව වාර්තාවී ඇතැයි ගොවිජනසේවා හා වනජීවී ඇමැති එස්. එම්. චන්ද්රසේන මහතා සඳහන් කළේය. වල් අලි සමීක්ෂණ වාර්තාව ප්රකාශයට පත්කරමින් වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ පැවැති මාධ්ය හමුවේදී ඇමැතිවරයා මේ බව අනාවරණය කළේය. මුළු දිවයිනම ආවරණය වන පරිදි බෙදා තිබෙන වනජීවී කලාප හතේ වෙන් වෙන් වශයෙන් ගත් කල වැඩිම වල් අලි ගහනයක් වාර්තාවන්නේ මහවැලි කලාපයෙනි. එය 1751 ක් බවත් අඩුම අලි ගහනයක් වාර්තාවන්නේ මධ්යම වනජීවී කලාපයෙනි. එය 47 ක් බවත් ඇමැතිවරයා සඳහන් කළේය.
නැගෙනහිර වනජීවී කලාපයේ වල් අලි ගහනය 1573 ක් වශයෙනුත් වයඹ 1189 ක් වශයෙනුත් දකුණ 1086 ක් හා උතුර 233 ක් වශයෙන් සමීක්ෂණ ප්රතිඵලවලින් වාර්තාවන බවද ඇමැතිවරයා සඳහන් කළේය.
සමීක්ෂණ වාර්තාවට අනුව සමස්ත වල් අලි ගහනයෙන් 1107 ක් අලි පැටවුන් බවත් 122 ක් දළ ඇතුන් ලෙසත් හඳුනාගැනීමට හැකිවී ඇතැයි හෙතෙම කීවේය.
සමස්ත අලි ගහනයෙන් 1107 ක් පැටවුන් සිටීම ශ්රී ලංකාවේ අලි ඇතුන්ගේ ඉදිරි පැවැත්ම යහපත් බවට සාධකයක් බවත් වල් අලි සංඛ්යාව මෙතරම් ඉහළ අගයක් ගැනීම තුළින් අප රටේ අලි සංරක්ෂණ වැඩපිළිවෙළ ඉතා ඉහළ මට්ටමින් සිදුකෙරෙන බව තහවුරු වන්නක් බවත් සඳහන් කළේය.
ශ්රී ලංකාවේ දීපව්යාප්ත මට්ටමින් සිදුකරන ලද ප්රථම වල්අලි සමීක්ෂණයට වනජීවී නිලධාරීන්, හමුදා නිලධාරීන්, ගම් වැසියන් ඇතුළු 3500 කට ආසන්න නිරීක්ෂකයින් පිරිසක් සහභාගි වූ බවත් නිරීක්ෂණ මධ්යස්ථාන 1553 කදී මෙම සමීක්ෂණ කටයුතු සිදුකෙරුණු බවත් කී ඇමැතිවරයා මෙම සමීක්ෂණයේ ප්රධාන අරමුණ වූයේ වල් අලි සංරක්ෂණය හා කළමනාකරණය සඳහා ඉදිරි ක්රියාමාර්ග ගැනීම පහසුකරලීම බවද පැවැසීය.
සියලු විද්යාත්මක ක්රමවේදයන් භාවිත කර සියයට සීයක් නොවූවත් උපරිම මට්ටමින් නිවැරැදිව මෙම සමීක්ෂණ කටයුතු සිදුකර ඇති බවත් ඉදිරියේදී සවිස්තරාත්මක වාර්තාවක් නිකුත් කරන බවත් සඳහන් කළේය.
වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්යක්ෂ ජනරාල් එම්. ඩී. රත්නායක මහතාද මෙහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ අතර වාර්තාව ප්රකාශයට පත්කිරීමේ අවස්ථාවට ගොවිජනසේවා හා වනජීවී අමාත්යාංශයේ ලේකම් උදේනි වික්රමසිංහ මහතාද එක්විය.
http://www.divaina.com/2011/09/03/news04.html
=================================
Lanka has healthy elephant population -survey
Nuwan KODIKARA, Panduka SAMARASEKARA and Tennakoon KULASEKERA
Sri Lanka is endowed with a total number of 5,879 wild elephants according to the elephant census conducted by the Wild Life Department from August 11 to 14. Agrarian Services and Wild Life Minister S M Chandrasena disclosed this at a ceremony held yesterday to release the census report.
Minister Chandrasena said the Mahaweli wild life zone has been identified as the region with the highest density of wild elephants with 1,751 animals while the central wild-life zone is the region with the lowest density of 47 wild elephants.
Minister Chandrasena said according to the latest statistics obtained the number of wild tuskers amounted to 122 and the number of baby elephants is 1107.
The census was carried out through 1553 observation centres country wide assisted by a team of about 3500 personnel including wild life officials, security forces and police personnel, university dons, students, Civil Security Department officials and farmers. According to the data obtained Sri Lanka has a greater number of elephants compared to other countries in Asia and its elephant population is very healthy.
Minister Chandrasena said his ministry would make use of the elephant census results to devise and implement measures to minimize the human - elephant conflict.
Ministry Secretary Udeni Wickremasinghe and Wild Life Director General H G Ratnayake were also present.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/09/03/news15.asp
දීපව්යාප්ත මට්ටමින් පසුගියදා සිදුකරන ලද ප්රථම වල් අලි සමීක්ෂණයට අනුව මෙරට වල් අලින් 5879 ක් සිටින බව වාර්තාවී ඇතැයි ගොවිජනසේවා හා වනජීවී ඇමැති එස්. එම්. චන්ද්රසේන මහතා සඳහන් කළේය. වල් අලි සමීක්ෂණ වාර්තාව ප්රකාශයට පත්කරමින් වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ පැවැති මාධ්ය හමුවේදී ඇමැතිවරයා මේ බව අනාවරණය කළේය. මුළු දිවයිනම ආවරණය වන පරිදි බෙදා තිබෙන වනජීවී කලාප හතේ වෙන් වෙන් වශයෙන් ගත් කල වැඩිම වල් අලි ගහනයක් වාර්තාවන්නේ මහවැලි කලාපයෙනි. එය 1751 ක් බවත් අඩුම අලි ගහනයක් වාර්තාවන්නේ මධ්යම වනජීවී කලාපයෙනි. එය 47 ක් බවත් ඇමැතිවරයා සඳහන් කළේය.
නැගෙනහිර වනජීවී කලාපයේ වල් අලි ගහනය 1573 ක් වශයෙනුත් වයඹ 1189 ක් වශයෙනුත් දකුණ 1086 ක් හා උතුර 233 ක් වශයෙන් සමීක්ෂණ ප්රතිඵලවලින් වාර්තාවන බවද ඇමැතිවරයා සඳහන් කළේය.
සමීක්ෂණ වාර්තාවට අනුව සමස්ත වල් අලි ගහනයෙන් 1107 ක් අලි පැටවුන් බවත් 122 ක් දළ ඇතුන් ලෙසත් හඳුනාගැනීමට හැකිවී ඇතැයි හෙතෙම කීවේය.
සමස්ත අලි ගහනයෙන් 1107 ක් පැටවුන් සිටීම ශ්රී ලංකාවේ අලි ඇතුන්ගේ ඉදිරි පැවැත්ම යහපත් බවට සාධකයක් බවත් වල් අලි සංඛ්යාව මෙතරම් ඉහළ අගයක් ගැනීම තුළින් අප රටේ අලි සංරක්ෂණ වැඩපිළිවෙළ ඉතා ඉහළ මට්ටමින් සිදුකෙරෙන බව තහවුරු වන්නක් බවත් සඳහන් කළේය.
ශ්රී ලංකාවේ දීපව්යාප්ත මට්ටමින් සිදුකරන ලද ප්රථම වල්අලි සමීක්ෂණයට වනජීවී නිලධාරීන්, හමුදා නිලධාරීන්, ගම් වැසියන් ඇතුළු 3500 කට ආසන්න නිරීක්ෂකයින් පිරිසක් සහභාගි වූ බවත් නිරීක්ෂණ මධ්යස්ථාන 1553 කදී මෙම සමීක්ෂණ කටයුතු සිදුකෙරුණු බවත් කී ඇමැතිවරයා මෙම සමීක්ෂණයේ ප්රධාන අරමුණ වූයේ වල් අලි සංරක්ෂණය හා කළමනාකරණය සඳහා ඉදිරි ක්රියාමාර්ග ගැනීම පහසුකරලීම බවද පැවැසීය.
සියලු විද්යාත්මක ක්රමවේදයන් භාවිත කර සියයට සීයක් නොවූවත් උපරිම මට්ටමින් නිවැරැදිව මෙම සමීක්ෂණ කටයුතු සිදුකර ඇති බවත් ඉදිරියේදී සවිස්තරාත්මක වාර්තාවක් නිකුත් කරන බවත් සඳහන් කළේය.
වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්යක්ෂ ජනරාල් එම්. ඩී. රත්නායක මහතාද මෙහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ අතර වාර්තාව ප්රකාශයට පත්කිරීමේ අවස්ථාවට ගොවිජනසේවා හා වනජීවී අමාත්යාංශයේ ලේකම් උදේනි වික්රමසිංහ මහතාද එක්විය.
http://www.divaina.com/2011/09/03/news04.html
=================================
Lanka has healthy elephant population -survey
Nuwan KODIKARA, Panduka SAMARASEKARA and Tennakoon KULASEKERA
Sri Lanka is endowed with a total number of 5,879 wild elephants according to the elephant census conducted by the Wild Life Department from August 11 to 14. Agrarian Services and Wild Life Minister S M Chandrasena disclosed this at a ceremony held yesterday to release the census report.
Minister Chandrasena said the Mahaweli wild life zone has been identified as the region with the highest density of wild elephants with 1,751 animals while the central wild-life zone is the region with the lowest density of 47 wild elephants.
Minister Chandrasena said according to the latest statistics obtained the number of wild tuskers amounted to 122 and the number of baby elephants is 1107.
The census was carried out through 1553 observation centres country wide assisted by a team of about 3500 personnel including wild life officials, security forces and police personnel, university dons, students, Civil Security Department officials and farmers. According to the data obtained Sri Lanka has a greater number of elephants compared to other countries in Asia and its elephant population is very healthy.
Minister Chandrasena said his ministry would make use of the elephant census results to devise and implement measures to minimize the human - elephant conflict.
Ministry Secretary Udeni Wickremasinghe and Wild Life Director General H G Ratnayake were also present.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/09/03/news15.asp
=================================
Sri Lanka has 5,879 elephants - Elephant census figures tally with numbers given by experts
By Ifham Nizam and Judith Welikala
The much awaited report, on the first countrywide elephant survey, reveals there are 5,879 elephants in Sri Lanka.
The report was handed over to Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S. M. Chandrasena yesterday by the Wildlife Director General H. D. Ratnayake.
Chandrasena said that the highest number of elephants had been recorded in the Mahaweli region -1751, and the lowest in the Central region - 47.
The Eastern Region has 1,573 elephants, the North Western region -1189, Southern region - 1,086 and Northern region - 233.The minister said that a comprehensive report would be handed over to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The Director General said that actual number of elephants would be more: "It could be between 1,000 and 1,500 more. Certainly it cannot be, lower number because a direct count was taken."
Ratnayake said it was a positive sign that there were 1,107 baby elephants, as it was a clear indication that the country was having a healthy elephant population. The survey revealed that there are 122 tuskers.
Fielding questions, Ratnayake claimed that the survey was worm the expenditure incurred to carry it out of (nearly Rs. 2 million).
Following the survey on August 11, 12, 13 and 14, conservationists, environmentalists and elephant experts alleged that some senior officials of the Wildlife Department were planning to claim that there were more than 7,000 elephants in the country.
They claimed that the Department purposely avoided most of the experts to act according to a hidden agenda of some politicians eager to shift young tuskers direct from the wild to their respective electorates.
The Department took two weeks to release the basic figures.
Ratnayake said that an unexpected number of elephants had been recorded in the Eastern Province during the three-day national elephant census.
The counting took place at 1,553 centres around the country, including the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
The census was conducted by the Department of Wildlife with the participation of more than 4,000 persons including 1,000 wildlife officers, 1,000 Civil Defence Force personnel, volunteers and villagers.
Minister Chandrasena said the prime motive of the census was to find out the exact number of elephants and their distribution.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=33798
=================================================================
The statistics showed that the highest number of elephants was concentrated in the Mahaweli region where the presence of 1,751 elephants was recorded. The lowest number of elephants was in the Central region with 47 elephants, 1573 elephants in the eastern region, 1,189 in the north eastern region and 1,086 in the southern region.
The minister said the large number of baby elephants was a further sign of an increasing elephant population in the country. Mr. Ratnayake said the census was also carried out to find ways and means to resolve the human-elephant conflict and ensure their protection and seek new methods on better managing them.
The census was conducted from 1,553 observation points with the participation of 3,500 officials from the Wildlife Department, Army and residents in the areas where the census was conducted and others. The island wide elephant census was conducted from August 11 to 14. The last elephant census was in 1993 which did not cover the North and Eastern Provinces.
The minister said though environmental groups had said the purpose of the elephant census was to hand-pick some 300 elephants for domestication to be sold to temples, this was not so and it would not be permitted.
“We will only permit lone elephants found stranded or selected elephants at the Pinnawala orphanage to be given to temples. No other elephants will be allowed to be domesticated,” he said.
http://print.dailymirror.lk/news/front-page-news/55134.html
==============================================
By Charitha Fernando
| Elephants: A trumpet for Sri Lanka By Olindhi Jayasundere The recent island wide elephant census has revealed there are 5,879 elephants in Sri Lanka and this marks the highest density of wild elephants in the Asian continent, Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S.M. Chandrasena said yesterday. According to the census out of a count of 1,107 baby elephants, 122 are tuskers, Wildlife Department Director General H.D. Ratnayake said. |
The statistics showed that the highest number of elephants was concentrated in the Mahaweli region where the presence of 1,751 elephants was recorded. The lowest number of elephants was in the Central region with 47 elephants, 1573 elephants in the eastern region, 1,189 in the north eastern region and 1,086 in the southern region.
The minister said the large number of baby elephants was a further sign of an increasing elephant population in the country. Mr. Ratnayake said the census was also carried out to find ways and means to resolve the human-elephant conflict and ensure their protection and seek new methods on better managing them.
The census was conducted from 1,553 observation points with the participation of 3,500 officials from the Wildlife Department, Army and residents in the areas where the census was conducted and others. The island wide elephant census was conducted from August 11 to 14. The last elephant census was in 1993 which did not cover the North and Eastern Provinces.
The minister said though environmental groups had said the purpose of the elephant census was to hand-pick some 300 elephants for domestication to be sold to temples, this was not so and it would not be permitted.
“We will only permit lone elephants found stranded or selected elephants at the Pinnawala orphanage to be given to temples. No other elephants will be allowed to be domesticated,” he said.
http://print.dailymirror.lk/news/front-page-news/55134.html
==============================================
Pachyderm Pack
By Charitha Fernando
Sri Lanka finds nearly 6,000 elephants in count
Sep 02, 2011 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's authorities say nearly 6,000 elephants had been found in an island wide census, which was slammed by conservationists as a cover for rulers to identify tusked elephants for capture and domestication.
The count in August has found 5,879 elephants in the Indian Ocean Island of 140 kilometers by 270 kilometers with dwindling forest cover.
H D Ratnayaka, The Director general of Sri Lanka's wildlife department said there could be more elephants.
"There could be around 1000 more," Ratnayaka said "It cannot be a reduction. If at all it has to be an increase in the population."
The census ran into controversy as conservationists pulled out saying Sri Lanka's rulers were using the survey to identify tuskers for capture and show that there were more elephants than an earlier estimate of around 4,000.
"Out of the total wild elephant population 1107 are calves and juveniles," minister of agrarian services and wildlife S M Chandrasena said.
"This is a positive indicator about the growth of the island’s wild elephant population."
Some wildlife experts have expected around 6,000 or more elephants to be found as around 200 to 300 elephants are killed each year by farmers or in accidents amid a growing 'human animal' conflict.
A mortality of more than 2,000 animals a decade pointed to a higher population number, experts have said.
"We are fortunate that a large elephant population is living in Sri Lanka compared to other Asian countries," Chandrasena said.
"The Mahaweli (river valley) region recorded 1751 elephants, the highest in the island.
"The north of the island which could not be accessed earlier because of the war has recorded 233 elephants."
Conservationists pulled out of the census after Chandrasena was quoted as saying last month that 300 elephants would be captured from the wild. Sri Lanka has a tradition for elephants to be used in temples and as status symbols by the traditional aristocracy.
A new trend is for elephants to be kept by some newly rich elected rulers and monks.
Minister Chandrasena told reporters Friday that "few elephants" would be given to the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy and the Devi Nuwara temple in the south to be used for traditional pageants.
"One or two elephants have to be given to the Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth)," he said.
"They will not be used for logging and we will not allow them to be used for commercial activities”
"We hope to give an elephant or two to places of our cultural heritage."
Researchers say tuskers are rare in Sri Lanka as a percentage of the total population. The survey data has found 122 tuskers.
The Wildlife Department said information on elephant range and numbers are vital for the effective conservation and management of elephants in Sri Lanka and to minimize human elephant conflict.
Conservationists and researches argue that the survey data will be useless in managing the elephant population due to flaws in the method adopted to count them.
Ratnayaka said there are concerns whether the island’s forest cover has sufficient capacity to accommodate and sustain elephants.
http://www.lbo.lk/fullstory.php?nid=257628194
Sep 02, 2011 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's authorities say nearly 6,000 elephants had been found in an island wide census, which was slammed by conservationists as a cover for rulers to identify tusked elephants for capture and domestication.
The count in August has found 5,879 elephants in the Indian Ocean Island of 140 kilometers by 270 kilometers with dwindling forest cover.
H D Ratnayaka, The Director general of Sri Lanka's wildlife department said there could be more elephants.
"There could be around 1000 more," Ratnayaka said "It cannot be a reduction. If at all it has to be an increase in the population."
The census ran into controversy as conservationists pulled out saying Sri Lanka's rulers were using the survey to identify tuskers for capture and show that there were more elephants than an earlier estimate of around 4,000.
"Out of the total wild elephant population 1107 are calves and juveniles," minister of agrarian services and wildlife S M Chandrasena said.
"This is a positive indicator about the growth of the island’s wild elephant population."
Some wildlife experts have expected around 6,000 or more elephants to be found as around 200 to 300 elephants are killed each year by farmers or in accidents amid a growing 'human animal' conflict.
A mortality of more than 2,000 animals a decade pointed to a higher population number, experts have said.
"We are fortunate that a large elephant population is living in Sri Lanka compared to other Asian countries," Chandrasena said.
"The Mahaweli (river valley) region recorded 1751 elephants, the highest in the island.
"The north of the island which could not be accessed earlier because of the war has recorded 233 elephants."
Conservationists pulled out of the census after Chandrasena was quoted as saying last month that 300 elephants would be captured from the wild. Sri Lanka has a tradition for elephants to be used in temples and as status symbols by the traditional aristocracy.
A new trend is for elephants to be kept by some newly rich elected rulers and monks.
Minister Chandrasena told reporters Friday that "few elephants" would be given to the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy and the Devi Nuwara temple in the south to be used for traditional pageants.
"One or two elephants have to be given to the Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth)," he said.
"They will not be used for logging and we will not allow them to be used for commercial activities”
"We hope to give an elephant or two to places of our cultural heritage."
Researchers say tuskers are rare in Sri Lanka as a percentage of the total population. The survey data has found 122 tuskers.
The Wildlife Department said information on elephant range and numbers are vital for the effective conservation and management of elephants in Sri Lanka and to minimize human elephant conflict.
Conservationists and researches argue that the survey data will be useless in managing the elephant population due to flaws in the method adopted to count them.
Ratnayaka said there are concerns whether the island’s forest cover has sufficient capacity to accommodate and sustain elephants.
http://www.lbo.lk/fullstory.php?nid=257628194
No comments:
Post a Comment