elephant and human lives but constant political interference and poor siting of fences are
thwarting the strategy, former Wildlife Department director- general Sumith Pilapitiya said.
Dr. Pilapitiya, who himself had been involved in human-elephant conflict solutions during
his tenure, said most fences had been built for the wrong reasons and thus in the wrong locations.
“Around 65 per cent of these electric fences have been installed to partition the land belonging to the forestry and the wildlife departments. What must be done is to create an ecological
partition that would separate the humans and the elephants,” he explained.
As well, Dr. Pilapitiya charged, politicians constantly interfere, trying to change the boundaries of electric fence- demarcated areas in order to win votes from people wanting to settle
in those areas.
“If elephants could vote, politicians would have to be very careful about interfering over locations of electric fences,” he remarked.
Dr. Pilapitiya cites maintenance as another reason for the failure of such projects, pointing
out that simple factors can foil elaborate mechanisms.
“Wires in the fence become faulty if a piece of vegetation grows over them,” he said. Electric
fences were the most effective deterrent to human-elephant conflict but were not the solution, he emphasised.
Env i ronmental lawyer Jagath Gunawardena objects to the term coined for this issue.
“This is not a ‘human-elephant conflict’: this is an issue pertaining to the degradation and
destruction of the environment,” he said.
Mr. Gunawardena said the problem could be resolved by identifying and restoring the habitats
of the elephants, which have been destroyed. These habitats must be equipped with sufficient
resources such as food and water to help elephants remain in such areas and not roam into
villages.
The lawyer accuses officers who propose seemingly wide-ranging approaches to the problem
of always ending up with a narrow perspective, blaming the elephants for roaming into villages – villages that have been set up in areas that were once the habitat of elephants.
Conservation specialist Dr. Prithviraj Fernando rejects the notion of relying on the Wildlife
Department alone to solve the problem.
“There are only 1,000 wildlife officials out of nearly 1.2 million public service officers who
should extend their cooperation in this regard,” Dr. Fernando, Chairman of the Centre for
Conservation and Research, pointed out.
Dr. Fernando said the wildlife department had confused its role by engaging in activities such
as setting up fences to protect people whereas its duty was to protect wildlife.
“This issue can be resolved by adopting a national plan that revolves around stakeholder participation and the managing of elephants in their habitats itself,” the conservation body
chairman proposed.
The wildlife department says about Rs. 300 million is spent every year on installing electric
fences – with results that, more often than not, fail to meet expectations.
The death of a mason in Mahiyangana due to an elephant attack last Sunday was an example
of the many deaths that have been recorded as a result of human-elephant conflict.
The wildlife department wants people to take more responsibility for their behaviour to avoid
being attacked by elephants.
“The home ranges of elephants have been seriously disturbed and their habitats have been
reduced and fragmented,” the department’s Director- General, Chandana Sooriyabandara,
said, calling on the public to avoid encroaching or trespassing into such lands to avoid being
attacked by elephants.
Mr. Sooriyabandara noted that land routes through areas which were once habitats of elephants have created harm to both elephants and humans.
He dismissed claims of fences being installed in unsuitable locations.
“Around 90 per cent of the electric fences have been placed in strategic locations,” he said,
explaining that a strategic location refers to the outermost circle of land area belonging to the
forestry and wildlife departments.
The remaining 10 per cent of fences have been installed to prevent elephants from entering
into villages, he said, noting that enormous manpower was required to ensure the fences and
other programmes worked satisfactorily.
People should take lessons from the circumstances of previous elephant attacks, he said.
Elephant attacks mostly occur between from 5.30 to 8.30 in the mornings or evenings. Deaths
could be prevented if people took the precaution of not venturing into areas prone to elephant
attacks during these periods, Mr. Sooriyabandara said.
“If elephants could vote, politicians would have to be very careful about interfering over locations of electric fences.” Dr. Pilapitiya
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