Conservationists decry decision to arm local groups against elephants

Activists in Sri Lanka are?concerned?after the government?announced?plans to issue firearms to a newly formed civil defence force tasked with protecting farmers from elephants.

There are an estimated 7,500 wild elephants in Sri Lanka and human-elephant conflict is a burning issue for local farmers. Elephant habitats are shrinking as humans are slowly encroaching on their roaming spaces. Having no place to go, these animals end up destroying crops in farmlands in their search for food. Some rural communities see them as?dangerous pests?and people have lost their lives in encounters with elephants. Around 100 people were?killed by the elephants?in 2019 alone.

During 2019, a record number of?361 elephants?died in Sri Lanka and 85% were killed by people as revenge for ?crop-raiding?. Each year, elephants kill dozens of people and damage agricultural crops and livelihoods and people kill them?with?electric fences, poison, and?explosives?concealed in food.

Killing wild elephants in Sri Lanka is a criminal offence that, in its most severe form, can carry a death sentence. But this does not deter the killing of elephants as people often cite self-defence.

Over the years, the Sri Lankan government has taken a number of measures to minimize human-elephant conflicts, including?relocating farmers?living on the edges of forests and providing?electric fencing.

On 13 January 2020, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Wildlife Conservation?announced?that the government is recruiting a 2500 strong civil defence force?which will be made up of local volunteers?in areas most affected by the human-elephant conflict. The?first phase of the program?has already been launched. Every eight officers from the civil defence force will be given five firearms each to scare away elephants. Building strong elephant fences with aid from the Chinese government has also been proposed.

People are raising their voices against the decision to arm local volunteers. Although the reported purpose of handing guns is to scare elephants, elephants can also be killed with the guns as people use various methods such as poisons and explosives to kill elephants each year. Legal practitioner Uween Jayasinha says the government is licensing its citizens to kill. (Courtesy globalvoices.org)