Two rare elephants in Sinharaja to be shifted to new detention centre

Two rare elephants in the Sinharaja forest reserve are to be shifted to a new detention centre.

Cabinet has approved the establishment of an elephant detention centre for the two elephants.

The cabinet approved the Proposal presented by Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, Minister of Sustainable Development, Wild Life and Regional Development to take over 36 hectares of land in the Parugala area (in Dolekanda Grama Niladhari Division) for this purpose.

Fonseka had earlier threatened to resign from his Ministerial portfolio over the Sinharaja elephant issue.

Fonseka had said that his duty is to resolve the human-elephant conflict resulting from the elephants in Sinharaja.

The Minister had said that if anyone attempts to pull his leg when he looks to resolve the issue he will resign.

Earlier, a decision taken to shift the two rare elephants from the Sinharaja forest reserve had been suspended on the instructions of the President. President Maithripala Sirisena had instructed the Secretary to 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 was taken after formulating a proper procedure.


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President instructs to keep two rare elephants in Sinharaja Forest Reserve at the same place until a decision is taken after formulating a proper procedure

President Maithripala Sirisena has 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.

The President further instructed the Secretary for the Ministry of Environment Mr. Anura Dissanayake and the Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation Mr. Anura Saturusinghe if there is any need to relocate these elephants, further steps should be taken after consulting a group of experts in the regard and following a scientific study by those experts.

President Sirisena has given these instructions during a meeting held with the officials of the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment, yesterday (14).

President Maithripala Sirisena further instructed the officials to take steps to conserve the animals within the lands that belong to them in order to protect the wild elephants.

The President also showed the importance of the responsibility behind protecting the Sinharaja forest which has a bio diversity valued by the entire world.

In order to prevent the harm caused by these two elephants to the people residing in the area, President Sirisena advised to complete the construction of a protective elephant fence as early as possible.

Mr.Ajith Mannapperuma who was newly appointed as the Deputy Minister of Environment started his duties in his position and President Maithripala Sirisena also joined this event.

Then the President also held this discussion with the officials of the ministries.
Deputy Minister Ajith P.Perera and other officials were also present in this discussion.


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Two rare elephants confined to Sinharaja

Sinharaja: Last vestige of primary tropical rain forest
Extinction due to changes in feeding patterns
Lack of historical data a major drawback
20 out of 26 endemic birds in Sinharaja
A recent attempt to relocate two rare elephants from the Sinharaja Forest Reserve created a controversy within environmentalists as the UNESCO would de-list the area as a world heritage site. This led to the intervention of the President who issued a directive that the move to relocate the elephants should be suspended until a proper scientific study was done on whether this transmigration would lead to the extinction of this rare species.


The UNESCO in 1978 designated the Sinharaja Forest Reserve as a biosphere reserve and a world heritage site.

SINHARAJA FOREST RESERVE
Sinharaja is a national park and a biodiversity hotspot in Sri Lanka and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has identified it as the last vestige of primary tropical rain forest with more than 60 per cent of the trees are endemic or rare.


This hilly virgin rain forest is only 21kms (13mi) from East to West and a maximum of 7kms (13mi) from North to South, but it is a unique area of endemic species including trees, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Wildlife is not seen easily because of the dense vegetation as in the dry-zone national parks like Yala. According to Wikipedia, there were three elephants and 15 leopards, and the common mammal is the endemic purple-faced Langur. One elephant cannot be accounted for at present.
There are 26 endemic birds in Sri Lanka, of which 20 rain forest species occur in Sinharaja. Reptiles include endemic green pit viper, hump-nosed vipers and also rare variety of amphibians, especially tree frogs. There are also invertebrates like common bird wing, butterfly and leeches.




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