Elephants vs Humans : Suriyawewa villagers unsafe

COLOMBO (News 1st) – A number of houses were damaged as elephants encroached on village settlements in Suriyawewa. The locals noted that they spend sleepless nights under the constant fear of elephant attacks. They added that elephants enter settlements in search of harvest stored on their properties. A victim noted that the existing electric fence is […]

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‘Electric fences, the only effective solution’

Environmentalists and wildlife conservation experts have told President Maithripala Sirisena and the Wildlife Conservation Ministry that it was not advisable to test the feasibility of various strategically-designed solutions for preventing the growing human-elephant conflict.

They said that the only effective solution was to continue the erection of electric fence systems with the support of villagers. They have explained that cutting trenches; as well as growing jute, palmyrah, lime, and bougainvillea in certain areas as protective fences; have also proven to be futile at preventing wild elephants from invading human settlements.

According to the environmental protection agencies and the Centre for Conservation and Research (CCR), around 70 to 75 people and about 250 to 300 wild elephants lose their lives due to the human-elephant conflict. Between 2013 and 2017 alone, the death toll of wild jumbos reported from the Anuradhapura, Central, East, North-west, Polonnaruwa, Uva, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, and Puttalam wildlife zones stood at 1,180, whereas its corresponding human casualties number 375. The number of wild elephant deaths in the aforementioned wildlife zones in 2018 was recorded to be 250.

The economic as well as other losses incurred as a result of the spike in the human-elephant conflict have increased poverty and impeded socioeconomic development. The CCR said that for over 60 years, solutions to the issue had been based on limiting elephants reserves under the jurisdictions of the Wildlife Conservation Department.

That approach has failed and, currently, over 70 percent of wild jumbos are roaming in areas outside the jurisdiction of the department. In fact, this method has resulted in an increased number of casualties in the conflict, the CCR added.

It has also been reported that the human-elephant conflict was prevalent in almost the entire dry zone. Various measures undertaken to resolve the human-elephant conflict; such as elephant translocation, elephant dives, electric fence systems, and the use of firecrackers; have hindered many elephants.

Environmental protection agencies highlighted that successful mitigation of the issue could not be executed by conservation agencies alone. The Centre for Conservation and Research had told authorities that the HEC should primarily ensure the well-being of the elephants, as they were helpless, and deprived of their habitats and security.

They added that while electric fences were the most effective tool for preventing wild elephants invasions, its use as a Wildlife Conservation Department jurisdiction boundary marker, has resulted in failure.

Currently, over 60 percent of over 4,300 kilometres of the department's electric fences are between the areas that come under the jurisdiction of the Wildlife and Forest Conservation departments, the Centre for Conservation and Research Chairman Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando said.

“There are elephants on both sides of most electric fences. Such fences are ineffective in mitigating the ongoing human-elephant conflict as there are no barriers between the elephants outside the fences and the villages. Furthermore, the fences are difficult to maintain and easily malfunction,” he added.

Dr. Fernando said, “Electric fences should only be used to protect settlements and crops. Hence, they should be constructed at the boundaries of developed areas or cultivated lands. Such fences can be easily constructed and maintained by the communities that are protected by them, and this approach has been successfully implemented, covering two Grama Niladhari divisions in the areas in which the human-elephant conflict is the highest: Galgamuwa and Ehetuwewa.”

“They have also been successfully implemented in a trial run in the Trincomalee and Hambantota districts. Such electric fences have effectively mitigated the conflict over the past eight years in the North-west as well,” the CCR Chairman added.

“Similarly, electric fences constructed by farmer organisations around paddy fields, can effectively prevent wild elephant invasions as well. Farmers construct such fences when they begin their cultivation activities, as well as when they commence the harvesting process. About 30 such fences have been deployed in the South and North-west, and have worked successfully for the past five years,” Dr. Fernando added.

“Such people-centric human-elephant conflict management solutions at the appropriate scale, can only be conducted by agencies that have the authority as well as the relationship with people such as the administrative and agricultural sectors, and not by conservation agencies,” the CCR Chairman said.

“Given the extent and scale of the conflict, successful mitigation measures will bring major political benefits, especially with regard to the rural constituency. If the conflict is to be managed effectively, people who are affected by the conflict need to play a major role in managing it, and the administrative and agricultural sectors need to assist them,” Dr. Fernando said.

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Wild elephants cause damage to paddy fields

A herd of wild elephants that raided the paddy elds in Digawapi had caused extensive damage to crops and even to machinery in the threshing oors. The owner of a mechanical reaper
destroyed by the jumbos said the machine had not been insured and that he incurred a loss of
Rs.3.5 million.

The wild elephants had attacked wayside stalls in Digawapia selling refreshments to the travellers. Residents of the area said the herd had pulled down the electric fence and made their
way into the villages.

Ampara District Asst.director of Wildlife Conservation K.g.wickremetilleka said steps were
now being taken to erect a new electric fence to resolve the issue.

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Wild elephant electrocuted to death in Kantale

A wild elephant has died by electrocution in Wanela –Kantale last night (12), stated Ada Derana reporter.

Reportedly, the elephant had come in contact with a high voltage electric fence erected around a house garden in Wanela area. The elephant had been electrocuted when it destroyed the electric fence using a Neem (Kohomba) tree branch.

According to the Wildlife Department officials, the deceased elephant had been 40 years of age and nearly 9 feet high.

The owner of the garden is being produced before the Kantale Magistrate’s Court.

The post mortem on the elephant will be conducted today (13) and further investigations will be conducted by the Kantale Police and Kantale Wildlife Department officials.

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Faulty electric fence fails to stop wild elephants

Farmers in Naula Divisional Secretary’s Division in Matale District complained that wild elephants
were encroaching into their villages due to an electric fence that had been installed not
working properly.

Farmers of Moragolla, Ambana Senagama and Opalwala areas said that their cultivations have
been destroyed by the wild elephants that roam about in these areas.

They explained that the fence is operated by a battery which had been stolen by thieves, resulting
in the fence being without electricity and thereby making it useless for stopping wild
elephants from entering their villages.

Ranjith K. Vijitha of the Department of Wild Life in Elahera said that they were taking remedial
measures to rectify the situation.

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Villages live in fear of wild elephants

Residents of Several villages in Shrawastipura in Anurdhapura are living in constant fear of a
possible danger to their life from a herd of wild elephants that raid the cultivated land and
home gardens at dusk.

They pointed out that the people in Sinthikulam, Henapolayagama, Aluthwewa, Kandugampolagama,

Siyambalewa, Moragoda were exposed to the wild elephant threat and that the
herd destroyed paddy elds,

Chena cultivation and their home garden crops.

Villagers said they had been facing the threat of wild elephants for more than 10 years due to
the negligence in the maintenance of the electric fence from Moragoda in Shravastipura to

Thala that prevent wild elephants roaming into the human habitats through AnuradhapuraKurunegala
road.

They pointed out that their children do not attend school in fear of a possible danger to their
lives. They said a schoolboy had a narrow escape when he was attacked by a jumbo and that so
far about 12 people had been trampled to death.

They requested the Wildlife Conservation Department to repair and maintain the electric
fence to prevent the wild elephants from roaming into the villages.

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Villages live in fear of wild elephants

Residents of Several villages in Shrawastipura in Anurdhapura are living in constant fear of a
possible danger to their life from a herd of wild elephants that raid the cultivated land and homegardens at dusk.

They pointed out that the people in Sinthikulam, Henapolayagama, Aluthwewa, Kandugampolagama,
Siyambalewa, Moragoda were exposed to the wild elephant threat and that the
herd destroyed paddy elds,

Chena cultivation and their home garden crops.

Villagers said they had been facing the threat of wild elephants for more than 10 years due to
the negligence in the maintenance of the electric fence from Moragoda in Shravastipura to
Thala that prevent wild elephants roaming into the human habitats through AnuradhapuraKurunegala
road.

They pointed out that their children do not attend school in fear of a possible danger to their
lives. They said a schoolboy had a narrow escape when he was attacked by a jumbo and that so
far about 12 people had been trampled to death.

They requested the Wildlife Conservation Department to repair and maintain the electric
fence to prevent the wild elephants from roaming into the villages.

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EFL granted Special Leave to Appeal to challenge unlawful electric fence in Ehetuwewa

EFL was granted Special Leave to Appeal by the Supreme Court on 1 August in SC (Spl) LA 289/2017, relating to an illegal forest clearing and the subsequent erection of an electric fence within the immediate vicinity of the Nakolagane Purana Raja Maha Viharaja in Ehetuwewa, in the Kurunegala District.

Over the years, EFL has been ardently involved in combating the clearing of forest land in Sri Lanka while ensuring complaints of such regard are brought to the notice of relevant Government officials. Since early 2015, EFL received various complaints from the Ehetuwewa Division relating to deforestation and/or use of forest land. The complaints received were associated to a large-scale clearing of approximately 15-20 acres of forest-land and the subsequent institution of an electric fence in the immediate vicinity of the Nakolagane Purana Raja Maha Viharaja, in Ehetuwewa. According to the information received, the large scale clearing and the subsequent mango plantation surrounding the temple premises were carried out by the Nakolagane Purana Raja Maha Viharaja in collaboration with funding by private investors.

In order to comprehend the severity of the issue, it is vital to shed light on the significance of the geographic placement of this electric fence. The Ehetuwewa and Galgamuwa Divisional Secretariat areas are known to have the highest number of human-elephant conflicts in the North-West of Sri Lanka. The forest clearing and the subsequent institution of the electric fence were carried out by the temple against the instructions of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) and the provisions of law. The fenced and cleared area was once one of the few natural forest patches left, forming a refuge for elephants crossing the region regularly in search of food and water. It was a critical part of their home-range. According to the GPS tracking data of radio collared elephants, this area falls within the home-range for over 200 elephants using the natural neighbouring forest for movement.

The clearing/developing of this area will result in blocking the seasonal movement of elephants while leading to loss of critical resources and habitat. Inevitably, this will force the elephants to move to surrounding villages looking for food, increasing the destruction of crops and cultivation. When elephants are prevented from accessing natural forest land, they are compelled to use areas inhabited by humans leading to the escalation of the human- elephant conflict. At present, herds of elephants consisting 100-200 individual elephants are seen in the mornings and evenings accessing the Palukadawala and Atharagalla water tanks, blocking the Ehetuwewa main road.

Given the severity of the possible jeopardy caused to human lives and the environment, EFL together with two affected villagers in Ehetuwewa, who are members of a local group called ‘Parisara Surakum Ekamuthuwa’, filed a Writ Application in 2017. However, the Court of Appeal refused to issue notice for this case on technical grounds. Subsequently, EFL filed a Special Leave to Appeal application to the Supreme Court.

The Special Leave to Appeal application was heard before Justice Eva Wanasundara, Justice Prasanna Jayawardena and Justice Nalin Perera. The Court issued a bench order to set aside the Court of Appeal Judgment dated 07.11.2017. With the consent of all parties, the Judges of the Supreme Court ordered the Court of Appeal to rehear this case. Ananda Lal Nanayakkara appeared on behalf of the Petitioners.

Through this litigation, EFL intends to prevent further aggravation of the existing human-elephant conflict in Ehetuwewa.

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Sinharaja elephants to be transferred to protection center

A project to establish a protection center to translocate the two rare elephants in the Sinharaja forest Reserve is in progress.

The Minister of Sustainable Development, Wildlife and Regional Development Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka has proposed the exaction of sixty-two hectares of land from the Parugala area in Dolekanda Grama Niladhari division of Kalawana, which consists of adaptable environmental conditions for the two elephants.

The proposal has also received the Cabinet approval.

The attention of the government has been drawn to the recent damages to lives and properties in vicinity of Sinharaja Forest Reserve, and the protection of the two wild elephants.

Meanwhile the proposal to establish a protection centre for the two rare elephants in the Sinharaja forest reserve has received massive backlash from environmentalists.

The environmental organizations oppose the confinement of the two elephants, roaming in the Sinharaja forest reserve that spreads over 11,189 hectares, to an area of 50 acres with an electric fence.

They point out that the authorities should heed to implement more practical solutions to the human-elephant conflict.

Last month, the President instructed the Secretary for the Ministry of Environment and the Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation to keep the two rare elephants in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, a World Heritage site, until a decision is taken after formulating a proper procedure.

He instructed that further steps should be taken after consulting a group of experts in the regard and following a scientific study by those experts, if there is any need to relocate these elephants.

Authorities had planned to translocate the two elephants to the Horowpathana elephant protection centre, however environmental conservationists had vehemently opposed the  move.

The ‘Protect Sri Lanka’ national movement had claimed that UNESCO has notified Sri Lanka’s Department of Wildlife Conservation that the Sinharaja Forest Reserve will be at risk of losing its status as a World Heritage Site if the two wild elephants roaming the reserve are translocated.

It also charged that if the government follows through with that decision, the public will have to suffer the dangerous consequences.

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Protest in Lunugamvehera against proposed elephant fence

Residents from four villages in Devramvehera and Lunugamwehera staged a protest this morning (Jul 13) saying that authorities are planning to erect an elephant fence across their farmlands.

The protesters blocked the Matara - Wellawaya road at the 70th Post in Devramvehera this morning.

Our correspondent stated that the protesters dispersed after Lunugamwehera Divisional Secretary promised to find a solution.

Meanwhile, the operation launched to drive away elephants from Suriyawewa was successful.

But Walawa Left Bank Joint Farmers' Union stated that there are defects in the electric fence, which was erected to prevent the return of elephant to human habitat.

The farmers' union, President S.K. Mahinda said that the wildlife officials are responsible for the defects.


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