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No ceasefire in war with elephants
Death of Wariyapola police officer revives search for permanent solution to a perennial problem
By Marisa de Silva
The debate on human-elephant conflict has once again come to the fore in the aftermath of the tragic death of a police inspector in Wariyapola, amid growing concern over therising death toll on both sides.
According to statistics, some 50 people and 120 elephants die every year in this ongoing battle.

Inspector Nimal Rowel, who was the Officer in Charge of the Wariyapola station, was crushed to death by a wild elephant, whilst he tried to drive a herd away from the town.

The inspector had gone there after complaints from residents that three wild elephants had come to the town and were posing a threat to their lives, according to a Wariyapola police officer. He claimed the inspector had informed the Wildlife officials and wanted them there. But they were not there when he went to the danger area, the officer said.

One of the elephants had turned aggressive and given chase after Inspector Rowel before he was crushed to death. Wildlife officials say they study the problem and take corrective measures, including large-scale elephant drives, to minimise the human-elephant conflict.

In the Wayamba province, nearly 160 elephants are being pushed back to Wilpattu and Thabbowa wildlife parks by a team of about 80 wildlife officials, said Galgamuwa Wildlife Ranger M.M.M. Pahalage. He said, however, some elephants (usually males) would stray from the main herd in search of food and water.

Ranger Pahalage said it was difficult to transport male elephants from one place to another, as they needed to eat a lot and walk a lot, as their dominance depended on their size.

“It is almost impossible to chase Asian elephants during the daytime, as they rest during the day and turn aggressive if disturbed. They travel during the night. But the African elephants do the reverse,” the ranger said.

Asked why the wildlife officials had not responded to the request of the inspector, the ranger said the Wildlife Department officials cautioned the police not to try and chase the elephants during daytime, unless they turned boisterous. “We advised the police to wait until our arrival,” he claimed, adding that they sent a team immediately and arrived at Wariyapola as soon as they could.

In a similar incident recently, an enraged elephant killed two villagers and damaged several houses before police shot it dead, in Buddhangala, Ampara, as Wildlife authorities hadn’t had a tranquilliser gun at hand. The incident had prompted the Wildlife Department to arm its area veterinary surgeons with tranquillisers and a dart gun.

Asked whether they notified residents prior to conducting the drive, Mr. Pahalage said that sometimes too much publicity could be counter productive.
He said they warn the public about the drive only when necessary. “This we do to prevent the residents from turning up to see the operation, hindering our work and exposing themselves to danger,” he said.

Fencing could be a solution
Commenting on other methods of keeping elephants away from human habitats, Wildlife Department Deputy Director Edmund Wilson said the electric fences could be effective if they were maintained by the community.
“It’s vital to have the cooperation of the villagers, as the Wild Life Department doesn’t have adequate man-power or funds to maintain all these fences,” he said adding that NGOs or animal lovers could come forward to help maintain the fences.

Environment Minister A. H. M. Fowzie said the ministry had erected 300 kilometres of electric fences though the cost of erecting a kilometre of fence was Rs. 370,000. He said the ministry would go ahead and build another 200 kilometres of fences.

Asked about the Wildlife Department’s claim that the villagers were not cooperating in the maintenance of the fences, the Minister said that most of them were cooperative at the beginning but later they simply forget about the fences and let them go to ruin.

Mr. Fowzie said the ministry would employ its staff to maintain the fences. He said the ministry would also buy more vehicles, recruit more staff and erect more fences to eliminate this problem once and for all.

The Ministry is also conducting a study on elephant movements so that they would be better able to locate their whereabouts, when they stray from the drives, he said.

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