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Probe report on baby elephants awaited
One baby elephant is dead and the other is very ill at the Ath Athuru Sevana in Uda Walawe.
A post-mortem has been held by the Veterinary Surgeons of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) under which comes Ath Athuru Sevana but the cause of death has not ascertained. Some specimens have been sent for “independent” analysis.
Minister Wijayamuni Zoysa. Pic by Nilan Maligaspe
“The reports are awaited,” said Wildlife Resources Conservation Minister Wijayamuni Zoysa.
Having paid a surprise visit to Ath Athuru Sevana on Thursday, he told the Sunday Times that there is serious concern that two court productions – the baby elephants – have not been looked after.
The baby elephants were handed over to the DWC by courts in two cases where the DWC had seized them after strong lobbying by conservationists and produced them in court alleging that they had been captured from the wild illegally. The baby elephant seized at Gannoruwa is dead, while the one from Mirigama is very ill. The Gannoruwa baby elephant had been in the custody of the DWC for several months.
“It is heart-rending to see the Mirigama baby very ill, stricken by heavy bouts of diarrhoea. It is fallen and being given saline,” Minister Zoysa said, adding that he was surprised that an injured baby elephant rescued from the wild was being kept with the Mirigama baby elephant. Usually the baby from the wild should have been kept in quarantine to ensure that it is not ill before being allowed to mix with the others.
When the exasperated Minister questioned officials at Ath Athuru Sevana, no acceptable answers had been forthcoming.
The Minister’s explanation came as concerned environmentalists were speculating whether there was foul-play in the “sudden death” of the baby elephant which had had no apparent illness before.
“When these babies which have been with people but are now in the custody of the DWC fall ill, the officials should inform their earlier caretakers and allow them to help treat and cure these animals,” said Mr. Zoysa.
When asked about the persisting problem of illegal baby elephant captures from the wild, he lamented that having studied the policies of Kerala, a panel of experts headed by Prof. Sarath Kotagama had drawn up a plan to curb this activity.
“All the information has been given to the DWC and I’m awaiting the proposed Cabinet paper, which I will present, but it has still not reached my table,” he lamented.
Nothing is happening, he said, and when asked why action is not being taken against errant officials he said he has but the results are slow.
Dealing at length with the “ali horu” (elephant robber) issue, he underscored that currently there cannot be any babies among domesticated elephants, arguing that since 1994 no baby has been born in captivity to any elephant owner.
The only way in which someone might come to own an elephant is if it was a Presidential gift or if permission has been granted by the DWC to catch a calf from the wild. “Even if we do give permission to catch an elephant, one under five years cannot be captured,” he said.
Since for 20 years there have been no babies and a ten-year-old elephant should be above 8ft in height, the DWC should have no trouble in determining whether the permits are true or false, he said.
There are about 359 elephants which have been registered with the DWC, the Sunday Times understands.
Pointing out that there may be elephants with authentic permits and authentic permits with no elephants or elephants with bogus permits and bogus permits with no elephants, he said that he wants to bring in a system where there is only one document with all the details about the elephant, its DNA as well as its photograph, which should be renewed every year.
According to the Minister now there is a sheaf of papers, tied loosely with a shoe-lace, which leaves room for any of the papers to be yanked out and substituted by another, as the DWC seal is only on the last page. His simple suggestion to make the elephant permit more like the driving licence is being met with lethargy, he said, conceding though that the DWC is facing a severe dearth of staff, which he is putting right gradually. “The DWC has a huge mandate to protect everything from turtles to corals and elephants to other animals but only has about 1,200 people.”
Minister Zoysa is adamant that like a call to surrender arms during conflicts, there should be an amnesty to lure out the “ali-horu” after which a stringent system should be put in place to prevent the illegal capture of baby elephants from the wild.
“Under the amnesty, we can punish these people who are keeping babies illegally with a heavy fine and document them,” he said. “This will end the capture of babies from the wild.”
When asked whether through such an amnesty authorities would not be condoning an illegal activity, a crime, the Minister argued that it is different to an ordinary crime.
“This deals with baby elephants which are like children and we cannot separate them from those who have been close to them. Unless the babies are being mistreated, they should not be taken away from the owners. Thereafter, we can systemise and regularise the licensing process and end this illegal capture,” he adds.
Other sources when asked whether an amnesty period would bring about a frenzy of illegal captures, said that due to the outcry against the snatching of baby elephants from the wild and villager-vigilance, there seems to be a decrease in this offence. They were of the view that an amnesty may not trigger more captures. However, environmentalists were not so sure.
| I have not seen the Audit Query
Minister Wijayamuni Zoysa said that he had not seen the ‘Audit Query’ of the Auditor General’s Department ‘calling for information for clarification’ with regard to illegally captured baby elephants. The query dated July 22, deals with permits 331, 334, 358 and 359 and seeks information on bogus documentation. Citing the four permits as an example of what is amiss with the system, the query calls for a detailed study of all elephant permits. |