Sri Lanka hails elephant survey

The first national survey of Sri Lanka’s wild elephants has found more than had been estimated – a sign the endangered species has a healthy, growing population on the Indian Ocean island.

The count conducted last month in forests and wildlife parks found 5,879 wild elephants, of which 122 are tuskers and 1,107 calves, wildlife minister S M Chandrasena said yesterday.

Previous counts did not cover the entire island, but the end of the country’s 25-year civil war in 2009 opened former war zones to wildlife workers.

The information gathered from the survey will be used to devise plans to protect the endangered species, wildlife department director general H D Ratnayake said.

The previous population estimate was 5,350 elephants, he said.

“These statistics show that Sri Lanka’s elephants are in good health and that their population is growing,” Mr Ratnayake said.

About 20 wildlife groups withdrew their support of the count, accusing the government of using it as a “smoke screen” for capturing the endangered animals and domesticating some of the young for use in Buddhist temples, tourism and labour.

Their accusation came after Mr Chandrasena was quoted as saying 300 young elephants would be captured and handed over to Buddhist temples after the census. Mr Chandrasena has said he was misquoted and no wild elephants would be captured.