Sunday, September 25, 2011
Damn Manila – Hold That Elephant – PETA
The Sri Lankan government is facing intense pressure over its decision to hand over a baby elephant to a Philippine Zoo after activists had claimed that conditions at the zoo were appalling.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an animal rights organisation based in Manila, said it is still having discussions with the Sri Lanka government to cancel plans to donate the baby elephant to a zoo in Manila.
Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena had recently announced that following a proposal made by Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne, approval was granted to donate the baby elephant from the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage to the Manila Zoo to mark the occasion of the Golden Jubilee celebration of the bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Philippines.
However PETA Asia, an affiliate of the world’s largest animal rights organisation, raised strong objections against the government’s move and wrote to Prime Minister Jayaratne urging him to take immediate action preventing the donation of the baby elephant to the Manila Zoo.
“If you care about elephants, you would never send one to the Manila Zoo to suffer for the rest of its life. You are probably unaware that Mali, the elephant who currently resides at the Manila Zoo, is cruelly denied socialisation, stimulation, room to explore, and everything else that is natural and important to her. Mali lives a “life” of intense confinement, loneliness, boredom, and isolation in an area a fraction of the size of her natural habitat. She is forced to endure the sweltering heat in the Philippines with little relief,” PETA Vice-President of International Operations, Jason Baker wrote in his letter to Prime Minister Jayaratne.
Following the letter, Senior Campaigner, PETA Asia, Ashley Fruno told The Sunday Leader that PETA was currently in discussions with the Sri Lankan government calling on it to immediately cancel plans to transfer the baby elephant from a government-run elephant orphanage to the Manila Zoo. “There has been a huge outcry from the Sri Lankan public about the donation and I think the government is really feeling the pressure and taking the issue seriously,” Fruno said.
All attempts by The Sunday Leader to contact Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne for a comment failed.
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/09/25/damn-manila-%E2%80%93-hold-that-elephant-peta/
Speed limit for trains to protect elephants
Following several rounds of discussion Railway officials together with Wildlife Conservation Authorities will impose speed limits for trains on certain areas on the Northern and Eastern railway track, Wildlife and Agrarian Services Minister S.M. Chandrasena said.
"According to the talks we had with Railway officials, the trains need to limit their speed in areas where elephants cross the railway track," Minister Chandrasena told the 'Sunday Observer'.
According to the Wildlife Conservation Department Director General H.D. Ratnayake new signposts will be set up at these spots on the Northern and Eastern railway track. "These signposts will alert train drivers that elephants cross these spots and drivers
would have to reduce their speed," said Ratnayake.
"We are exploring the possibility of clearing jungle patches at these spots. This is due to the low visibility at the bends along the jungle tracks which could cause accidents," Ratnayake said.
Around five elephants were killed this year due to train accidents and there have been 180 elephant deaths, according to the Department of Wildlife Conservation.
Wildlife officials said a large number of elephants die due to hakkapatas set up in cultivations by farmers to protect crops from elephants.
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2011/09/25/new31.asp
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Planters and elephants
September 23, 2011, 6:38 pm
Planters in Sri Lanka have had a long association with wild elephants. This association started with the pioneer planters who moved to the upcountry areas to open up land for the cultivation of coffee and cinchona. Unfortunately those early associations were always confrontational and detrimental to the elephant. The jungles that were inhabited by the elephants were cleared at a rapid rate to be replaced by coffee and cinchona plants. The elephants that had lived in those jungles were shot indiscriminately if they got in the way of those clearing the jungles.
There is a belief that the elephants that inhabited those jungles went down to the low country when their habitat was invaded by man. This is not true. They were killed! Later when those pioneer planters settled down on their estates they went after the wild elephants to shoot them, in what they called a sport! Books by writers like Sir Samuel Baker, Alfred Clarke, Harry Storey, D. J. Hennessey, and Sir Emerson Tenant are replete with accounts of shooting elephants for sport.
Major Thomas Rogers killed 1,500 elephants. He was struck by lightning and killed at the Haputale Resthouse when was 40 odd years old. Ironically, his grave at the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club also seems to have been struck by lightning. Major Skinner a roads engineer and Payne Galleway a tea planter are reported to have killed over 700 elephants each.
On the other hand the pioneer planters used tame elephants, which were plentiful at that time, when they were clearing the jungles and planting coffee. Elephants are sure footed and were very adept at moving, with heavy loads, over rough, steep and unchartered terrain. They were used to assist in the construction of roads, bridges, culverts and railways. They were used to uproot the stumps of jungle trees that were cut down. Elephants were hired on a daily basis and payment would depend on the type of work performed. The elephants to be tamed for work were caught by the kraal method––wild elephants were driven into a stockade and, when captive, tamed and trained for work. Tame elephants were used to assist in the taming of the wild elephants that were caught.
Elephants on estates in the recent times
Shawlands Estate, Lunugala had wild elephants coming up from the Bibile and Moneragala areas and raiding the vegetable gardens of the labourers. Douggie Jenkins, Bevil Jansz and the late Russel Bowen were the Superintendents of Shawlands in the 1960s and 70s.
Hopton Estate, also in Lunugala, had elephants visiting them in the 1960s and 1970s. At that time Ron Ferguson and the later Kumar Gunatileke were the superintendents of that estate. Wild elephants also came up to Hopton and Swinton divisions from the Bibile/ Moneragala area and mainly raided the vegetable gardens of the labourers. In fact Hopton had an item styled ‘Elephant Damage’ in the report that the Visiting Agent submits periodically.
Yapame and Kehelwatte estates, both in Lunugala, also suffered the detrimental effects of the visits of wild elephants.
Elephants came up from the Lunugala area and visited the large area of patna land between Mahadowa Estate, Madulsina and El Teb Estate, Passara. Both estates are over 4,000 feet above sea level. Their dung was found by Mike Clarke, superintendent of El Teb, on one of his treks through the patnas. As Russel Tennekoon, the assistant superintendent of El Teb, at that time, says those elephants were ‘just visiting’. Not seen. No damage was done.
Elephants also visited Meedumpitiya division of Passara group when Douggie Lamb was the superintendent and David Witham the assistant superintendent on that division.
In the 1960s wild elephants came up from the Wellawaya area to Gamawela Estate, Passara and Mahatenne division of Dammeria Estate also in Passara. I was superintendent of Dammeria in the 1970s but the elephants did not come there again.
On the other side of Badulla, a herd of elephants from the Talpitigala area used to come to Keenakelle and Ledgerwatte estates, which were in Hali Ela. The elephants caused very little damage whilst they were there.
In 1967, 1969 and 1970 when Ted Gottellier was the Manager of Poonagala Estae, Bandarawela, a wild elephant used to come up from the Koslanda /Wellawaya area and cause a lot of damage to the vegetable gardens of the labourers. The first time it came to the plantation the pluckers were going to work.
In the 1990s a number of elephants came up to the Makaldeniya, Poonagala and Koslanda estates. I carried out a survey of those elephants when Viji Johnpulle was the superintendent of Poonagala, and found that there were seven elephants trapped in this area. They had come from Wellawaya and Koslanda, through village gardens and rubber plantations, but not been able to go back, mainly because of increased human activity. Those elephants were all males. Most of them are still there. Wild elephants raided the Koslanda town during the ‘Adi Poosai’ festival in 1999. They brought down the banana trees that had been used for the ceremony.
In the 1990s the Department of Wildlife Conservation made an attempt to capture and translocate those animals. However, with the first capture they encountered many problems. One was that, due to the hilly terrain, it was difficult to dart the elephants with a tranquilliser. If the elephant fell down with its head in a position lower position than the body, it would die due to the intestines etc. pressing against the diaphragm. The other problem was that those elephants were in a part of the estate that was not well roaded. It was therefore difficult to bring the elephant to a main road due to there being only narrow and winding field paths. The elephant that was captured was re-located in the Yala National Park.
For many years elephants moving down from the fringes of the Sinharaja Forests used to appear on Deepdene Estate, Rakwana. Almost 50 years ago when Bathiya Jayaratne and later Sarath de Zoysa were in charge of Deepdene, elephants were regular visitors. Sometimes when coming late at night at night from Colombo or the club they used to encounter elephants on the road. Sometimes the elephants did not move away quickly keeping the occupants of the vehicle waiting. Elephants still visit Deepdene, though in smaller numbers now.
This herd used to visit the cardamoms and paddy field at Aigburth Estate, Rakwana. Ralph Amerasinghe says that they disturbed cardamom harvesting many times, when he was there, by coming during the day. Their smell preceded their arrival. He says that in the 1970s elephants were regularly encountered on the Bulutota Pass, which is on the Rakwana–Deniyaya road. In the past road engineers traced new roads along the paths taken by the elephants since it ensured an even gradient. The Bulutota Pass with its 10 elbow or hair pin bends is a perfect example of this. The Sinharaja forest reserve borders the even numbered bends of this pass. The most frequent sighting of elephants was at the 4th hairpin bend from the bottom. On occasion elephants were seen making their way from the 6th or 4th bend, along the road, to the 5th bend and onto the patanas close by.
Those elephants also visited Heatherleigh and Ensalwatte Estates regularly. I remember the late Aelien de Silva talking of those elephants visiting Ensalwatte Estate, Deniyaya, when he was superintendent there.
Kumarawatte was a cocoa and rubber estate on a high hill close to the Moneragala town. The Bibile Estate, which was in the plains, and Kumarawatte had herds of elephants visiting them and causing much damage. Ambrose Perera and Harold Winter were the superintendents of Kumarawatte and Bibile respectively in the 1970s.
There has always been speculation as to whether there are elephants still in the Adam’s Peak area. There are elephants on the side opposite the steps that the pilgrims use. The elephants come to the side of the pilgrim route during the off season when there are no crowds. These elephants are seen very rarely though their fresh dung is found regularly, especially in the area known as the Gouravilla Plains. Once however when Ralph Amerasinghe was the superintendent of Laxapana Estate a few elephants came in the night, to the Dalhousie Estate, which is at the base of Adam’s Peak. Various reports suggest that there are seven to fifteen elephants in the Adam’s Peak area.
No human has been killed in all these instances mentioned above, the exception being at Makaldeniya, when a labourer, after a bout of drinking in the night, tried to take on an elephant he encountered near the bungalow, and was killed by the elephant for his trouble.
A herd of elephants, which generally consists of 12 to 20 animals, is led by the matriarch. The herd consists of the matriarch and her female progeny. All males are ejected from the herd when they reach puberty. This is nature’s way of preventing inbreeding and also assists in the flow of blood and genes, amongst the herds. The males wander about either alone or in small groups. It is mostly the males that are involved in human elephant conflicts. They are bolder and go well into human habitations and cultivations looking for food. The females in a herd, on the other hand, are wary of invading human habitat since they are very protective of their young and will not expose them to danger by going far out from the jungle.
An ever increasing human population demands more and more land for settlement, development and agriculture. The jungles which are the elephant’s habitat are cleared to meet these demands. The reduced habitats are now not sufficient to satisfy the elephants need for food and water. The elephants come out looking for food and water and come into conflict with humans whose crops they raid and whose houses they damage.
[This paper has been prepared to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Ceylon Planters’ Society]
By Jayantha Jayewardene
Planters in Sri Lanka have had a long association with wild elephants. This association started with the pioneer planters who moved to the upcountry areas to open up land for the cultivation of coffee and cinchona. Unfortunately those early associations were always confrontational and detrimental to the elephant. The jungles that were inhabited by the elephants were cleared at a rapid rate to be replaced by coffee and cinchona plants. The elephants that had lived in those jungles were shot indiscriminately if they got in the way of those clearing the jungles.
There is a belief that the elephants that inhabited those jungles went down to the low country when their habitat was invaded by man. This is not true. They were killed! Later when those pioneer planters settled down on their estates they went after the wild elephants to shoot them, in what they called a sport! Books by writers like Sir Samuel Baker, Alfred Clarke, Harry Storey, D. J. Hennessey, and Sir Emerson Tenant are replete with accounts of shooting elephants for sport.
Major Thomas Rogers killed 1,500 elephants. He was struck by lightning and killed at the Haputale Resthouse when was 40 odd years old. Ironically, his grave at the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club also seems to have been struck by lightning. Major Skinner a roads engineer and Payne Galleway a tea planter are reported to have killed over 700 elephants each.
On the other hand the pioneer planters used tame elephants, which were plentiful at that time, when they were clearing the jungles and planting coffee. Elephants are sure footed and were very adept at moving, with heavy loads, over rough, steep and unchartered terrain. They were used to assist in the construction of roads, bridges, culverts and railways. They were used to uproot the stumps of jungle trees that were cut down. Elephants were hired on a daily basis and payment would depend on the type of work performed. The elephants to be tamed for work were caught by the kraal method––wild elephants were driven into a stockade and, when captive, tamed and trained for work. Tame elephants were used to assist in the taming of the wild elephants that were caught.
Elephants on estates in the recent times
Shawlands Estate, Lunugala had wild elephants coming up from the Bibile and Moneragala areas and raiding the vegetable gardens of the labourers. Douggie Jenkins, Bevil Jansz and the late Russel Bowen were the Superintendents of Shawlands in the 1960s and 70s.
Hopton Estate, also in Lunugala, had elephants visiting them in the 1960s and 1970s. At that time Ron Ferguson and the later Kumar Gunatileke were the superintendents of that estate. Wild elephants also came up to Hopton and Swinton divisions from the Bibile/ Moneragala area and mainly raided the vegetable gardens of the labourers. In fact Hopton had an item styled ‘Elephant Damage’ in the report that the Visiting Agent submits periodically.
Yapame and Kehelwatte estates, both in Lunugala, also suffered the detrimental effects of the visits of wild elephants.
Elephants came up from the Lunugala area and visited the large area of patna land between Mahadowa Estate, Madulsina and El Teb Estate, Passara. Both estates are over 4,000 feet above sea level. Their dung was found by Mike Clarke, superintendent of El Teb, on one of his treks through the patnas. As Russel Tennekoon, the assistant superintendent of El Teb, at that time, says those elephants were ‘just visiting’. Not seen. No damage was done.
Elephants also visited Meedumpitiya division of Passara group when Douggie Lamb was the superintendent and David Witham the assistant superintendent on that division.
In the 1960s wild elephants came up from the Wellawaya area to Gamawela Estate, Passara and Mahatenne division of Dammeria Estate also in Passara. I was superintendent of Dammeria in the 1970s but the elephants did not come there again.
On the other side of Badulla, a herd of elephants from the Talpitigala area used to come to Keenakelle and Ledgerwatte estates, which were in Hali Ela. The elephants caused very little damage whilst they were there.
In 1967, 1969 and 1970 when Ted Gottellier was the Manager of Poonagala Estae, Bandarawela, a wild elephant used to come up from the Koslanda /Wellawaya area and cause a lot of damage to the vegetable gardens of the labourers. The first time it came to the plantation the pluckers were going to work.
In the 1990s a number of elephants came up to the Makaldeniya, Poonagala and Koslanda estates. I carried out a survey of those elephants when Viji Johnpulle was the superintendent of Poonagala, and found that there were seven elephants trapped in this area. They had come from Wellawaya and Koslanda, through village gardens and rubber plantations, but not been able to go back, mainly because of increased human activity. Those elephants were all males. Most of them are still there. Wild elephants raided the Koslanda town during the ‘Adi Poosai’ festival in 1999. They brought down the banana trees that had been used for the ceremony.
In the 1990s the Department of Wildlife Conservation made an attempt to capture and translocate those animals. However, with the first capture they encountered many problems. One was that, due to the hilly terrain, it was difficult to dart the elephants with a tranquilliser. If the elephant fell down with its head in a position lower position than the body, it would die due to the intestines etc. pressing against the diaphragm. The other problem was that those elephants were in a part of the estate that was not well roaded. It was therefore difficult to bring the elephant to a main road due to there being only narrow and winding field paths. The elephant that was captured was re-located in the Yala National Park.
For many years elephants moving down from the fringes of the Sinharaja Forests used to appear on Deepdene Estate, Rakwana. Almost 50 years ago when Bathiya Jayaratne and later Sarath de Zoysa were in charge of Deepdene, elephants were regular visitors. Sometimes when coming late at night at night from Colombo or the club they used to encounter elephants on the road. Sometimes the elephants did not move away quickly keeping the occupants of the vehicle waiting. Elephants still visit Deepdene, though in smaller numbers now.
This herd used to visit the cardamoms and paddy field at Aigburth Estate, Rakwana. Ralph Amerasinghe says that they disturbed cardamom harvesting many times, when he was there, by coming during the day. Their smell preceded their arrival. He says that in the 1970s elephants were regularly encountered on the Bulutota Pass, which is on the Rakwana–Deniyaya road. In the past road engineers traced new roads along the paths taken by the elephants since it ensured an even gradient. The Bulutota Pass with its 10 elbow or hair pin bends is a perfect example of this. The Sinharaja forest reserve borders the even numbered bends of this pass. The most frequent sighting of elephants was at the 4th hairpin bend from the bottom. On occasion elephants were seen making their way from the 6th or 4th bend, along the road, to the 5th bend and onto the patanas close by.
Those elephants also visited Heatherleigh and Ensalwatte Estates regularly. I remember the late Aelien de Silva talking of those elephants visiting Ensalwatte Estate, Deniyaya, when he was superintendent there.
Kumarawatte was a cocoa and rubber estate on a high hill close to the Moneragala town. The Bibile Estate, which was in the plains, and Kumarawatte had herds of elephants visiting them and causing much damage. Ambrose Perera and Harold Winter were the superintendents of Kumarawatte and Bibile respectively in the 1970s.
There has always been speculation as to whether there are elephants still in the Adam’s Peak area. There are elephants on the side opposite the steps that the pilgrims use. The elephants come to the side of the pilgrim route during the off season when there are no crowds. These elephants are seen very rarely though their fresh dung is found regularly, especially in the area known as the Gouravilla Plains. Once however when Ralph Amerasinghe was the superintendent of Laxapana Estate a few elephants came in the night, to the Dalhousie Estate, which is at the base of Adam’s Peak. Various reports suggest that there are seven to fifteen elephants in the Adam’s Peak area.
No human has been killed in all these instances mentioned above, the exception being at Makaldeniya, when a labourer, after a bout of drinking in the night, tried to take on an elephant he encountered near the bungalow, and was killed by the elephant for his trouble.
A herd of elephants, which generally consists of 12 to 20 animals, is led by the matriarch. The herd consists of the matriarch and her female progeny. All males are ejected from the herd when they reach puberty. This is nature’s way of preventing inbreeding and also assists in the flow of blood and genes, amongst the herds. The males wander about either alone or in small groups. It is mostly the males that are involved in human elephant conflicts. They are bolder and go well into human habitations and cultivations looking for food. The females in a herd, on the other hand, are wary of invading human habitat since they are very protective of their young and will not expose them to danger by going far out from the jungle.
An ever increasing human population demands more and more land for settlement, development and agriculture. The jungles which are the elephant’s habitat are cleared to meet these demands. The reduced habitats are now not sufficient to satisfy the elephants need for food and water. The elephants come out looking for food and water and come into conflict with humans whose crops they raid and whose houses they damage.
[This paper has been prepared to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Ceylon Planters’ Society]
Friday, September 23, 2011
The elephant census: for protection or domestication?
Monday, 19 September 2011 00:00
By Olindhi Jayasundere
The domestication of elephants developed into a matter of heated discussion among environmental groups and the Sri Lanka wildlife authorities in the recent past. Days before the country’s first elephant census after the 30 year war was to take place, wildlife groups who had earlier agreed to extend their support, later formally announced that they would boycott the census following statements made by the Minister of Agrarian Services and Wildlife S.M. Chandrasena. The Minister had allegedly stated that 300 tuskers and elephant calves would be identified, captured and domesticated during the elephant census for the purpose of carrying caskets in Peraheras. Since these alleged statements surfaced the question lies as to whether the wild elephants are being removed from their habitat for domestication purposes.
Wildlife groups critisised Minister S. M. Chandrasena’s statements and claimed that the elephant census, which would have been an ideal step towards conserving elephants, was now being used as an apparatus to identify the whereabouts of elephant calves with favourable traits to capture and domesticate them. Environmental groups said the issue called for serious concern over the elephant population of the country and the threats they face.
Environment Conservation Trust (ECT) President Sajeewa Chamikara said the country harbours 10% of the Asian Elephant population and a better part of these elephants are elderly. From 1990 to 2000 there was an average of 150 elephant deaths per year. During the next decade, this number had reached 200 deaths per year. “Ill-planned developmental projects, the ongoing human elephant conflict, elephant drives, railroad accidents and electrocution are among the threats faced by these endangered megaherbivores,” Chamikara said.
The domesticated elephant population in the country is being used for elephant-back safaris while elephants are still used for transporting logs in areas such as Kalutara, Ratnapura and Kegalle. Tamed elephants are often included in cultural pageants and Peraheras carrying caskets. However, elephants are used in pursuit of lucre more often than for the purpose of serving the temple or cultural needs. Furthermore they are used as symbols of social prestige by influential people, Chamikara said.
“It is important to consider the fate of domesticated elephants. Most of these elephants are ill-treated, suffer from malnutrition and many meet with tragic, untimely deaths,” he said. There have been attempts to tame wild elephants which have resulted in them being beaten to death, he said.
Owners of tamed elephants, sometimes choose not to breed elephants as they have long gestation and suckling periods and cannot be employed to earn money for the owners until two years of age. Therefore elephants sometimes die without contributing to the breeding gene pool, he said. Height and tusk bearing genes of elephants are now less commonly seen as there is less breeding of wild elephants which in turn is obstructing the circulation of genes in the elephant population, he explained. Consequently, the percentage of tuskers in Sri Lankan has gone down to 7-8% of the males.
He explained that captive breeding is a feasible option to make up for a shortage of tamed elephants. Captive breeding of elephants has been very successful at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and some 50 elephant births have taken place since 1975, he said. The required technical knowledge is available in the country to promote elephant conservation but he said it is not taking place adequately.
“Moreover, the material prepared for the reference of the participants of this census indicates that subjective data such as the orientation of the tusks were to be recorded. In a scientific census such subjective data are not recorded. The dubious nature of the objective behind this census is reflected by this. Capturing elephants from the wild in such a manner paves the way for the extinction of these valuable animals,” he said. The objectives of an elephant census he said should be identification of frequent haunts of elephants, declaration of such identified areas as well ensuring protected areas for elephants.
Environmental Lawyer Jagath Gunawardena said according to provisions in the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance, it is illegal to domesticate an elephant. According to the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance, only the Department of Wildlife Conservation has the authority to capture elephants from the wild, if an elephant is identified as harmful to the crops or the public.
The Diyawadana Nilame of the Dalada Maligawa Pradeep Nilanga Dela said the allegations made against elephant owners are unacceptable. “Certain NGOs and other organisations have talked about the captivity of elephants but they have only done so to earn money out of it. For them it is something to be gambled with. Their allegations are very unfair. It is a tradition that was adopted by the early kings and even by Lord Buddha. They have no means of proving that these animals are brutally harassed although they claim that this is the case,” the Diyawadana Nilame said.
He said history has shown that bestowing elephants as gifts to the Dalada Maligawa had been very common in Sri Lanka for several centuries. Sri Lankan leaders such as J.R Jayawardena, Ratnasiri Premadasa, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge and even the current President Mahinda Rajapaksa have customarily presented elephants to the temple as they are considered invaluable gifts that symbolize the cultural and historical significance of the Dalada Maligawa.
There are nearly 110 elephants in captivity, in Sri Lanka many of which are over 50 years of age. Owing to their old age, the Diyawadana Nilame explained, the fitness levels of the elephants are slowly deteriorating. The temple is consequently facing a scarcity of young elephants and it is impossible to find elephants of a suitable age, ideally elephant calves of about 25 years, to include in the annual Kandyan Dalada Perahera. The Dalada Perahera traditionally comprises of 100 elephants, an age old custom embraced by the temple.
The Diyawadana Nilame is also the President of the Association of Owners of Tamed Elephants (AOTE) which comprises of 85 members. One of the members, Villangoda Mahaththaya owns the biggest tusker while the elephant owner with the largest number of elephants has some 20 elephants, he says.
“Maintaining an elephant is a difficult task and an expensive one at that and therefore requires commitments and resources to own an elephant. An elephant’s meals for a day costs some Rs.1500. Daily wages for the mahouts and their assistants is an estimated Rs.65,000,” he said. To tame wild elephants a number of traditional methods and new methods are employed. He said the use of a cage more than 5000 square feet long will be utilized in future to domesticate, a system, he said, is being used in many parts of Africa today.
Wildlife Department Director General H.D Ratnayake denied that the government had any expectations of capturing elephants for domestication during the survey. The Wildlife Department’s mandate, he said, was not to domesticate elephants although allegations have been made to that effect. “We do not have any intentions of domesticating any elephants. Our aim is to ensuring elephant conservation, set up a management plan to prevent the damage to elephant habitats as well as to mitigate the human-elephant conflict,” he said.
The purpose of the census and survey in August he assured was to ascertain the elephant population and its composition. Through this method the number of tuskers, sub-adults (4.5 to six feet in height, adults (over six feet in height), juveniles (less than three feet in height) were determined. He said however that selected rogue elephants and stranded elephants that are currently with the Pinnawala elephant orphanage will be donated for domestication to temples.
For that reason while wild elephants will be conserved and protected in their natural habitat, the wildlife department has identified the requirement of elephants for temples.
http://print.dailymirror.lk/opinion1/56595-olindhi-jayasundere.html
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Wild elephant kills man
[September 17 2011] (JJ)
A man who had taken temporary shelter in a house in the Thihariya jungle died following a attacked by a wild elephant. The deceased was identified as U.M. Lebbe Mohamed, a resident of Pulmudde. The deceased body was handed over to his relatives after the inquest.Vast improvements to Wilpattu National Park under Deyata Kirula
Nimal WIJESINGHE
The Wilpattu National Park Development Programme, a key venture under the Deyata Kirula 2012 overall development plan is being accelerated on the instructions of Wildlife Conservation Minister S M Chandrasena.
North Western Wildlife Zonal Assistant Director W.S. Weragama told the Daily News that the construction of the 95 kilometre long protective electrified fence around a major section of the sanctuary would begin today under the Deyata Kirula Programme at a cost of Rs 40 million.
The fence will run via Mahawilachchiya, Kukulkatuwa, Oyamaduwa, Hunuwilagama, Kalaoya, Thantirimale, Malwathuoya etc preventing heards of wild jumbos migrating to the nearby habitations in the future, according to Weragama.
Referring to the main infrastructural development programme being implemented under the Deyata Kirula in Wilpattu the Assistant Director said, that it has been planned to construct a internal road network of 100 kilometres covering the area close to the new proposed two new entrances to the park at Wilachchiya and Thantirimale areas.
"In addition to the present four circuit bungalows eleven new bungalows are being constructed close to the Wilpattu boundaries in Modaragam Aru, Kalaoya and along the costal zone. A sum of Rs 400 million has been allocated for the projects," Weragama disclosed.
Also being assisted by the Archaeological authorities and guided by Ven Ellawala Medhananda Nayake Thera the renowned archaeologist a comprehensive plan is being implemented to protect all sites of archaeological and historical importance scattered in the sanctuary he said. http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/09/19/news32.asp
The Wilpattu National Park Development Programme, a key venture under the Deyata Kirula 2012 overall development plan is being accelerated on the instructions of Wildlife Conservation Minister S M Chandrasena.
North Western Wildlife Zonal Assistant Director W.S. Weragama told the Daily News that the construction of the 95 kilometre long protective electrified fence around a major section of the sanctuary would begin today under the Deyata Kirula Programme at a cost of Rs 40 million.
The fence will run via Mahawilachchiya, Kukulkatuwa, Oyamaduwa, Hunuwilagama, Kalaoya, Thantirimale, Malwathuoya etc preventing heards of wild jumbos migrating to the nearby habitations in the future, according to Weragama.
Referring to the main infrastructural development programme being implemented under the Deyata Kirula in Wilpattu the Assistant Director said, that it has been planned to construct a internal road network of 100 kilometres covering the area close to the new proposed two new entrances to the park at Wilachchiya and Thantirimale areas.
"In addition to the present four circuit bungalows eleven new bungalows are being constructed close to the Wilpattu boundaries in Modaragam Aru, Kalaoya and along the costal zone. A sum of Rs 400 million has been allocated for the projects," Weragama disclosed.
Also being assisted by the Archaeological authorities and guided by Ven Ellawala Medhananda Nayake Thera the renowned archaeologist a comprehensive plan is being implemented to protect all sites of archaeological and historical importance scattered in the sanctuary he said. http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/09/19/news32.asp
PM told "don’t gift elephant to Manila Zoo"
September 17, 2011, 7:08 pm
"I beg you to cancel plans to condemn another elephant to a life of confinement, loneliness, and deprivation at a substandard facility like the Manila Zoo.... We beg you to take immediate action to prevent the transfer of any animals from your country," said Jason Baker, vice-president of International Operations of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), in a letter to Jayaratne, a copy of which was given to Gulf News.
Sri Lanka’s plan to send a baby elephant to mark the 50 years of diplomatic ties between Manila and Colombo "will result in the elephant being sentenced to a lifetime of misery at the Manila Zoo", said Baker, adding this "decision will surely reflect poorly on Sri Lanka".
"If you care about elephants, you would never send one to the Manila Zoo to suffer for the rest of their life," said Baker who recounted in detail the suffering of Mali, as one example of mistreatment of elephants at the city’s zoo.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=34863
Manila: A Manila-based animal rights group called on Sri Lankan Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne not to send a baby elephant to Manila Zoo, which the group described as a "decrepit and sub-standard facility" that had reduced another elephant named Mali to a terrible state.
"I beg you to cancel plans to condemn another elephant to a life of confinement, loneliness, and deprivation at a substandard facility like the Manila Zoo.... We beg you to take immediate action to prevent the transfer of any animals from your country," said Jason Baker, vice-president of International Operations of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), in a letter to Jayaratne, a copy of which was given to Gulf News.
Sri Lanka’s plan to send a baby elephant to mark the 50 years of diplomatic ties between Manila and Colombo "will result in the elephant being sentenced to a lifetime of misery at the Manila Zoo", said Baker, adding this "decision will surely reflect poorly on Sri Lanka".
"If you care about elephants, you would never send one to the Manila Zoo to suffer for the rest of their life," said Baker who recounted in detail the suffering of Mali, as one example of mistreatment of elephants at the city’s zoo.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=34863
Friday, September 16, 2011
පිලිපීනයට ශ්රී ලංකාවෙන් අලි පැටියෙක්
රනිල් ධර්මසේන
පිලිපීනයේ මැනිලා සත්වෝද්යානයට අලි පැටවකු පරිත්යාග කිරීමට ඇමැති මණ්ඩලය තීරණය කර ඇත.
පිලිපීන රාජ්යය සමග රාජ්යතාන්ත්රික සම්බන්ධතා ආරම්භ කර 50 වසරක් සම්පූර්ණවීම නිමිත්තෙන් මැනිලා නගරාධිපතිගේ ඉල්ලීම පරිදි මෙම අලි පැටවා පරිත්යාග කෙරේ.
අගමැති දි. මු. ජයරත්න මහතා මෙම යෝජනාව ඇමැති මණ්ඩලයට ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇත.
http://www.divaina.com/2011/09/16/news23.html
පිලිපීනයේ මැනිලා සත්වෝද්යානයට අලි පැටවකු පරිත්යාග කිරීමට ඇමැති මණ්ඩලය තීරණය කර ඇත.
පිලිපීන රාජ්යය සමග රාජ්යතාන්ත්රික සම්බන්ධතා ආරම්භ කර 50 වසරක් සම්පූර්ණවීම නිමිත්තෙන් මැනිලා නගරාධිපතිගේ ඉල්ලීම පරිදි මෙම අලි පැටවා පරිත්යාග කෙරේ.
අගමැති දි. මු. ජයරත්න මහතා මෙම යෝජනාව ඇමැති මණ්ඩලයට ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇත.
http://www.divaina.com/2011/09/16/news23.html
Sri Lanka gifts baby elephant amidst healthy population growth Philippines- Sri Lanka golden jubilee of bilateral relations
by Zacki Jabbar
Sri Lanka is to donate a baby elephant to the Philippines to mark the golden jubilee of bilateral relations between the two countries.
Acting Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena told journalists in Colombo yesterday that the Cabinet of ministers had approved a proposal by Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne to donate a baby elephant from the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage to the Manila Zoo.
A recent official survey of Sri Lanka’s elephant population indicated that it was growing at a healthy rate and had reached 5,880.
The Cabinet, he said, also decided to commemorate World Habitat Day on October 3, this year.
Since 1986, the first Monday in October had been declared as World Habitat Day, Abeywardena said adding that the objective was to draw the attention of all stakeholders to problems pertaining to housing and settlements with a view to finding solutions.
A Memorandum submitted by Environment Minister Anura Priyadbarshana Yapa, to launch this year’s National Tree Planting Programme -’Deyata Sevana’ on November 15, from ‘Ranaviru Upahara Sandahiruseya’ in Anuradhapura was also approved by the Cabinet, he said.
Abeywardena, said that the tree planting programme will be implemented in collaboration with all Ministries, Departments, Corporations, Statutory Boards, Provincial Councils, focal Authorities and District and Divisional Secretariats.
Among the other decisions taken, he said, was to conduct the National Health Week from October 3 to 9.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=34696
Sri Lanka is to donate a baby elephant to the Philippines to mark the golden jubilee of bilateral relations between the two countries.
Acting Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena told journalists in Colombo yesterday that the Cabinet of ministers had approved a proposal by Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne to donate a baby elephant from the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage to the Manila Zoo.
A recent official survey of Sri Lanka’s elephant population indicated that it was growing at a healthy rate and had reached 5,880.
The Cabinet, he said, also decided to commemorate World Habitat Day on October 3, this year.
Since 1986, the first Monday in October had been declared as World Habitat Day, Abeywardena said adding that the objective was to draw the attention of all stakeholders to problems pertaining to housing and settlements with a view to finding solutions.
A Memorandum submitted by Environment Minister Anura Priyadbarshana Yapa, to launch this year’s National Tree Planting Programme -’Deyata Sevana’ on November 15, from ‘Ranaviru Upahara Sandahiruseya’ in Anuradhapura was also approved by the Cabinet, he said.
Abeywardena, said that the tree planting programme will be implemented in collaboration with all Ministries, Departments, Corporations, Statutory Boards, Provincial Councils, focal Authorities and District and Divisional Secretariats.
Among the other decisions taken, he said, was to conduct the National Health Week from October 3 to 9.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=34696
Thursday, September 15, 2011
ගජමුතු ජාවාරම් කළ සිව් දෙනෙක් අත්අඩංගුවට
ගජමුතු ජාවාරමේ යෙදුණු කාන්තාවක ඇතුළු සිව් දෙනකු ගජමුතු දෙකක් හා හෙරොයින් තොගයක් සමඟ මාතලේ පොලිස් විශේෂ විමර්ශන අංශය විසින් අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන ඇත.
රත්නපුර සිට බකමූණ ප්රදේශයට මේවා අලෙවි කිරීමට යමින් සිටියදී මාතලේ ඇල්වලදී අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන ඇත.
අත්අඩංගුවට ගත් සැකකරුවන් මාතලේ මහෙස්ත්රාත් අතිරේක දිසා විනිසුරු චතුරිකා ද සිල්වා මහත්මිය හමුවට ඉදිරිපත් කෙරිණි. ගජමුතු සන්තකයේ තබා ගැනීමේ වරද සම්බන්ධයෙන් රත්නපුර පදිංචි කේ. එල්. ඩී. විඡ්ලා සම්පත් අසංගනී නමැති සැකකාරිය රුපියල් ලක්ෂයක ශරීර ඇප සහ රුපියල් දස දහසක මුදල් ඇප මත මුදාහැරිණි.
http://www.divaina.com/2011/09/15/news19.html
සීගිරිය අවට වල් අලි බියක්
සීගිරිය සහ අවට ගම්මාන රැසක ප්රචණ්ඩ ලෙස හැසිරෙමින් සැරිසරන වන අලියකු හේතුවෙන් ප්රදේශයේ ජනතාවගේ ජන ජීවිතය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් අඩාල වී තිබේ.
සීගිරිය, කලාපුරය, මයිල්ලත්තෑව, සීගිරිමුල්ල, පොල්ලෑත්තෑව ආදී ගම්මානවල සැරිසරන මෙම අලියා 13 දා (පෙරේදා) රාත්රියේ හේනට යමින් සිටි සිව්දරු පියෙකුට පහරදී බරපතළ තුවාල සිදු කර ඇති අතර සීගිරිය, කලාපුරයේ පදිංචි ඩබ්ලිව්. ඇම්. ලොකුබණ්ඩා මහතා ද පහර කෑමට ලක්ව ඇත. ප්රදේශයේ වී ලොකු ලූනු සහ එළවළු වගා බිම් රැසක්ද ගත වූ සති කීපය තුළ විනාශ කර දමා ඇති බව ප්රදේශවාසීහු සඳහන් කරති.
ප්රචණ්ඩ ලෙස සැරිසරන මෙම අලියා වෙනත් ප්රදේශයකට රැගෙන යා යුතු බවට වනජීවී නිලධාරීන් විසින් හඳුනාගෙන ඇත.
http://www.divaina.com/2011/09/15/provin01.html
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
හීලෑ අලි ඇතුන් වඳවීමට හීලෑ අලි ඇත් අයිතිකරුවනුත් ඍජුවම වගකිව යුතුයි.
By Elephants of Sri Lanka
හීලෑ අලි ඇතුන් වඳවීමට හීලෑ අලි ඇත් අයිතිකරුවනුත් ඍජුවම වගකිව යුතුයි. ඔවුන් පින්නවලින් හෝ කැළයෙන් අල්ලා හෝ රජයෙන් අලි ලබාදෙන තුරු බලාසිටී. අතීතයේ හීලෑ අලි ලබා ගත්තේ මේ දෙවිදියට පමනක් නොවේ. හීලෑ අලි සංචිතය තුලින්ම පැටව් බෝ කර ගැනීම බහුලව සිදුවිය. නමුත් දශකයකට වැඩි කාලයක සිට හීලෑ අලින්ගෙන් පැටවෙකු ලබා ගැනීමට ඔවුන් අසමත් විය. දැනට ඔවුන් සතුව සිටින අලින්ගෙන් පැටව් ලබාගෙන හීලෑ අලි සංචිතය වර්ධනය කර ගැනීමට ඔවුන් කිසිම උත්සහයක් ගන්නේ නැත. ඊට හේතුව අලියෙකු ගැබ්ගත් විට එම මව් සතා වසර 2 1/2කට ආසන්න කාලයක් පෙරහැරට හෝ වෙනත් කාර්යයන් සඳහා භාවිතා කල නොහැක. එනම් එම සතාගේ ගැබ් කාලය (මාස 22) මුළුල්ලේම හා පැටවා කුඩා කාලය මුළුල්ලේත් ආහාර හා බෙහෙත් ලබාදෙමින් කිසිදු ආදායමක් නොමැතිව නඩත්තු කළ යුතුය.
තවද ඉතිරිවී සිටින අලි ඇතුන් රැක ගැනීමට වඩා එම සතුන්ගෙන් මුදල් උපයා ගැනීමට ඔවුන් වැඩි වෙහසක් දරයි. එම සතුන් ප්රවාහනය කරන ලොරි රථ වල තත්වය දුටුවිට ඕනෑම කෙනෙකුට එය අවබෝධ කරගත හැක. පසුගිය වසර කිහිපය තුලදී ලොරි රථ පෙරලීම හා ඇත්ගොව්වන්ගේ නොසැලිකිලිමත්භාවය හේතුවෙන් අලි ඇතුන් කිහිපදෙනෙකුම අප රටෙන් තුරන් විය.
එමෙන්ම පෙරහැර කර්මාන්තයට අවශ්ය අලි ඇතුන් පුද්ගලික අංශය හරහාම සිදුවීම අත්යවශ්ය නැති බව අප අවධාරණය කරන්නෙමු. පින්නවල අලි සංරක්ෂණාගාරය තුල හීලෑ අලි සංචිතයක් පවත්වා ගැනීම රජයට මූල්යම වශයෙන් මෙන්ම සතුන්ගේ පාර්ශවයෙන් හොඳ පියවරක් වනු ඇත.
මෙමගින් ඇතිවන වාසි හා මගහැරෙන අයහපත් නැඹුරුතාවන් පිළිබඳව ශ්රී ලංකා හරිත ව්යාපාරය මගින් අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමන් හා සත්ත්වෝදන අධ්යක්ෂකතුමන් දැනුවත් කල නමුත් මේවන තෙක් ඒ පිළිබඳව යහපත් ප්රථිචාරයක් ලැබී නොමැත.
හීලෑ අලි ඇතුන් වඳවීමට හීලෑ අලි ඇත් අයිතිකරුවනුත් ඍජුවම වගකිව යුතුයි. ඔවුන් පින්නවලින් හෝ කැළයෙන් අල්ලා හෝ රජයෙන් අලි ලබාදෙන තුරු බලාසිටී. අතීතයේ හීලෑ අලි ලබා ගත්තේ මේ දෙවිදියට පමනක් නොවේ. හීලෑ අලි සංචිතය තුලින්ම පැටව් බෝ කර ගැනීම බහුලව සිදුවිය. නමුත් දශකයකට වැඩි කාලයක සිට හීලෑ අලින්ගෙන් පැටවෙකු ලබා ගැනීමට ඔවුන් අසමත් විය. දැනට ඔවුන් සතුව සිටින අලින්ගෙන් පැටව් ලබාගෙන හීලෑ අලි සංචිතය වර්ධනය කර ගැනීමට ඔවුන් කිසිම උත්සහයක් ගන්නේ නැත. ඊට හේතුව අලියෙකු ගැබ්ගත් විට එම මව් සතා වසර 2 1/2කට ආසන්න කාලයක් පෙරහැරට හෝ වෙනත් කාර්යයන් සඳහා භාවිතා කල නොහැක. එනම් එම සතාගේ ගැබ් කාලය (මාස 22) මුළුල්ලේම හා පැටවා කුඩා කාලය මුළුල්ලේත් ආහාර හා බෙහෙත් ලබාදෙමින් කිසිදු ආදායමක් නොමැතිව නඩත්තු කළ යුතුය.
තවද ඉතිරිවී සිටින අලි ඇතුන් රැක ගැනීමට වඩා එම සතුන්ගෙන් මුදල් උපයා ගැනීමට ඔවුන් වැඩි වෙහසක් දරයි. එම සතුන් ප්රවාහනය කරන ලොරි රථ වල තත්වය දුටුවිට ඕනෑම කෙනෙකුට එය අවබෝධ කරගත හැක. පසුගිය වසර කිහිපය තුලදී ලොරි රථ පෙරලීම හා ඇත්ගොව්වන්ගේ නොසැලිකිලිමත්භාවය හේතුවෙන් අලි ඇතුන් කිහිපදෙනෙකුම අප රටෙන් තුරන් විය.
එමෙන්ම පෙරහැර කර්මාන්තයට අවශ්ය අලි ඇතුන් පුද්ගලික අංශය හරහාම සිදුවීම අත්යවශ්ය නැති බව අප අවධාරණය කරන්නෙමු. පින්නවල අලි සංරක්ෂණාගාරය තුල හීලෑ අලි සංචිතයක් පවත්වා ගැනීම රජයට මූල්යම වශයෙන් මෙන්ම සතුන්ගේ පාර්ශවයෙන් හොඳ පියවරක් වනු ඇත.
මෙමගින් ඇතිවන වාසි හා මගහැරෙන අයහපත් නැඹුරුතාවන් පිළිබඳව ශ්රී ලංකා හරිත ව්යාපාරය මගින් අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමන් හා සත්ත්වෝදන අධ්යක්ෂකතුමන් දැනුවත් කල නමුත් මේවන තෙක් ඒ පිළිබඳව යහපත් ප්රථිචාරයක් ලැබී නොමැත.
වද වී යන හීලෑ අලි - ඇත් පරපුර
2011 අගෝස්තු මස 11 16:36:33 | ලංකාදීප කර්තෘ මණ්ඩලය
හෙළ සංස්කෘතිය පුරාවටම සඳහන් වන හීලෑ අලි ඇතුන් එය ආරක්ෂා කරන දැවැන්ත පවුරක් හෝ ආවරණයක් ලෙස සැලකිය හැකිය. ප්රතාපවත් බවේ මෙන්ම විශාලත්වයේ සංකේතයක් ලෙස සැලකෙන අලියා හෙළ සංස්කෘතියේ වඩාත්ම කතාබහට ලක්වන සත්වයාය. එතරම්ම අලි ඇතුන් අප සංස්කෘතියට මහා ශක්තියක් වී ඇති බව පිළිගැනීමට සිදුවේ.
අතීතයේදී වරින්වර වනයෙන් අල්ලාගත් අලින්ගෙන් හා පින්නවල අලි අනාථාගාරයෙන් ශ්රී දළඳා මාළිගාව ඇතුළු විහාර දේවාල සඳහා ලබාදුන් අලි ඇතුන්ගෙන් හීලෑ අලි පරපුර වර්ධනය විය. එහෙත් මෑත කාලයේදී සැලකිය යුතු අලි සංඛ්යාවක් හීලෑ අලි පරපුරට අලූතෙන් ඇතුළත් නොවීමත්, වයෝවෘද්ධව සිටි අලි සංඛ්යාව බෙහෙවින් අඩුවී ඇත. මේ වන විට අප රටේ ඉතිරිව සිටින හීලෑ අලි ඇතුන්ගේ සංඛ්යාව සියයකට (100) ආසන්න වන අතර එයින් විසිදෙනකු (20) පමණ වාර්ෂිකව වෙසක් පොසොන් හා ඇසළ මාසවල මදකිපී ගාල් කිරීමට සිදුවේ. ඉතිරි අලි අසූ දෙනාගෙන් (80) දසදෙනෙක් (10) පමණ වයෝවෘද්ධව ඉතාම දුර්වල තත්ත්වයෙන් පසුවේ. දිවයිනේ සිටින හීලෑ අලි ඇතුන් සියදෙනා අතර දළ ඇතුන් සිටින්නේ විසි දෙදෙනකු (22) පමණි. එයින් කරඬුව වැඩම කරවීම සඳහා සුදුසු වූ ගති ලක්ෂණ වලින් මෙන්ම සුුදුසු සෞඛ්ය තත්ත්වයෙන් යුක්ත පරිනත දළ ඇතුන් වශයෙන් තෝරාගත හැක්කේ මහා කතරගම දේවාලයේ වාසනා, නැදුන්ගමුවේ රාජා සහ ඉන්දිරාජා යන සතුන් පමණි. මෙම තත්ත්වය නිසා එදා අලි ඇතුන් දෙසීයකට (200) ආසන්න සංඛ්යාවක් ගමන් කළ මහනුවර ඇසළ පෙරහරට පවා සහභාගි කරවා ගැනීමට හැකි තත්ත්වයේ අලි ඇතුන් සිටින්නේ හැත්තෑ (70) දෙනකු පමණි.
විශේෂයෙන් මහනුවර ඇසළ පෙරහරේ සහ අනෙකුත් පෙරහරවල කරඬුව හා දේවාභරණ වැඩම කරවීම ඉතාම භාරර වගකීමකි. මේ සඳහා යොදා ගනු ලබන දළ ඇතුන් තුළ ඉතා හොඳ ගතිලක්ෂණ තිබිය යුතුය. ඉතා හොඳින් වැඩුණු සිරුරක් ඇති, සෘජුව මෙන්ම තේජවන්තව හිස (ඉහකර ඔසවා සිටින, පිටකොන්ද (ආසනය) හොඳින් පිහිටා ඇති දළ යුගලය අලංකාර ලෙස ඉදිරියට නෙරා ඇති, තැන්පත් නුවණින් යුතු, උපශාන්ත ගමන් විලාසයක් සහිත සන්සුන් මනසකින් යුතු තීක්ෂණ බුද්ධියෙන් කරුණා ගුණයෙන් පරිපූර්ණ වූ මැදි වයසේ තැන්පත් ඇතුන් මේ සඳහා ඉතාම සුදුසුය.
මෙවන් තැන්පත් ගතිලක්ෂණවලින් හෙබි දළ ඇතුන්ගේ හිඟය නිසා වර්තමානයේ මේ සඳහා තරුණ අලි ඇතුන් යොදා ගත්තද අතීතයේ මේ සඳහා යොදාගනු ලැබුවේ වයස අවුරුදු හතළිහ (40) ඉක්මවූ සතුන්ය. එහෙත් දළ ඇතකු තරුණ වියේදීම මේ සඳහා පුහුණු කරවනු ලබයි. මෙසේ පුහුණු කරනු ලබන්නේ පැරණි චාරිත්රවාරිත්රවලට අනුකූලව වන අතර එය කරනු ලබන්නේ පෙරහර පවත්වන දිනක නොවේ. ප්රථමයෙන්ම අදාළ විහාරය හෝ දේවාලය ඉදිරියට ඇතා රැුගෙන විත් දණ නමස්කාරය කරවා මහා සංඝරත්නය විසින් සෙත්පිරිත් දේශනය කර පැන් ඉසින විට රන්සිවිගෙය සවිකරනු ලබන වකපුටුව නමැති කොටස ශුභ නැකතට ඇතාගේ පිට මත තැන්පත් කෙරේ.
ඉන්පසුව එයට අදාළ බඳපටි ආදිය තද කොට වකපුටුව මත රන්සිවිගෙය සවිකරනු ලැබේ. ඒ සමගම ඇඳුම් ආයිත්තම්ද පළඳවා මද දුරක් ඇවිද්දවා පුහුණුව ලබාදේ. පුහුණු කරන ලද මංගල හස්තියකු පිටේ රන්සිවිගෙය බැඳ අලංකාර වූ ඇඳුම් අන්දවා දළ කොපු පළඳවා විදුලි බුබුළුවලින් සරසා, දෙකන්වල චාමර සවිකර මුල්වරට කරඬුව තැන්පත් කරන්නේද ශුභ නැකතකටය. එසේ පාවඩ මත පෙරහරේ ගමන් කරන ඇතාට ගෙවදුනාට පසුව කැවුම් හා කිරිබත්වලින් සංග්රහ කරනු ලැබේ.
මෙම ඇතුන්ගේ වස්දොස් දුරුවීම සඳහා ශ්රී දළඳා මාලිගාව ප්රධාන කොට ඇති පැරණි විහාර දේවාලවල සෙත්පිරිත් දේශනා කිරීම, පිරිත් පැන් ඉසීම මෙන්ම දේවපූජා ආදිය පැවැත්වෙයි. සබරගමුව මහා සමන් දේවාලයේ දේවාභරණ වැඩම කරවන ඇතා ගෙවදුනාට පසුව විශාල කැවුම්වලින් ඇතාගේ පාද තවා සමන් දෙවියන් උදෙසා, විශේෂ පූජා පවත්වා ඇතාගේ නිරෝගි බව ප්රාර්ථනය කෙරේ. එමෙන්ම අලූත්නුවර ශ්රී දැඩිමුණ්ඩ මහා දේවාලයේද ප්රථමවරට දේවාභරණ වැඩම කරවන ඇතුන්ගේ වස්දොස් දුරුවීමට රැයක් පහන් වනතුරු ශාන්තිකර්මයක් කර දෙහි ආදිය කපනු ලැබේ. කරඬුව හා දේවාභරණ වැඩම කරවීමට කැප කරන ඇතකු පිට කිසිම දිනක කාන්තාවක් නංවන්නේ හෝ අවමංගල කටයුතු කරන ස්ථාන ආසන්නයට රැගෙන යන්නේ හෝ නැත.
මහනුවර ඇසළ පෙරහරේ දළදා කරඬුව වැඩම කරවීම ඇතකු ලබන උතුම්ම අවස්ථාවයි. මෙම කටයුත්ත සඳහා යොදා ගන්නා දළ ඇතුන්හට නිරෝගි සුවය හා ආරක්ෂාව පතා මල්වතු අස්ගිරි උභය මහා විහාරීය මහානායක හිමිපාණන් වහන්සේලා ඇතුළු මහා සංඝරත්නය විසින් සෙත්පිරිත් දේශනා කර දියවඩන නිලමේතුමන්ද සමග කැවුම් කිරිබතින් සංග්රහ කර ආශිර්වාද කරනු ලැබීම සිරිතකි. දැනට වසර විසිපහකට පමණ පෙරදී මහනුවර ඇසළ පෙරහරේ කරඬුව හා දේවාභරණ වැඩම කරවීමට මෙන්ම පෙරහරේ අනෙකුත් ස්ථානවල ගමන් කරවීමට අවශ්ය තරම් හීලෑ අලි ඇතුන් සිටි බැවින් එකල පෙරහරේදී අලි ඇතුන් සිය ගණනින් දැකගත හැකි විය. එහෙත් වර්තමානයේ මහනුවර පෙරහරට අලි ඇතුන් හැත්තෑවක් ගෙන්වා ගැනීමත් විශාල අභියෝගයක් වී තිබේ.
හීලෑ අලි ඇතුන්ගේ සංඛ්යාව වර්ධනය නොවීමත් දැනට සිටින වයෝවෘද්ධ සතුන් දිනෙන් දින මිය යාමත් පෙරහර සංස්කෘතිය පවත්වාගෙන යාමට විශාල ගැටලූවක් වී තිබේ.
පසුගිය වර්ෂ දෙකතුළදී පමණක් ගංගාරාමයේ නවම් රාජා, බෙල්ලන්විල අලියා, පස්ගම විහාරයේ අලියා, ගඟහගෙදර ඇතින්නි, දෙහිදෙනියේ ඇතින්නි, අරංගල්ල මහතාගේ ඇතින්නි, හොඳැල්ලේ ඇතින්නි, මිල්ලතේ සරත්චන්ද්ර රාජකරුණා මහතාගේ ඇතින්නියන් දෙදෙනා, මිල්ලන්ගොඩ රාජා ඇතුළුව තවත් වයෝවෘද්ධ අලි ඇත්තු කිහිප දෙනෙක් මියගියහ.
ජීවමාන අලි ඇතුන් සොයා ගැනීමට ඇති දුෂ්කරතාව නිසා ග්රාමීය පෙරහර සංවිධානය කරන ඇතැම් අය විසින් කෘත්රිමව සාදා සරසන ලද අලි පෙරහරේ රැගෙන යාමට පටන්ගෙන තිබේ. හීලෑ අලි පරපුර මෙසේ සීග්රයෙන් අවසන් වුවහොත් වැඩිකල් ගතවීමට පෙර ග්රාමීය පෙරහරවල පමණක් නොව මහනුවර පෙරහර ඇතුළු අනෙකුත් ඓතිහාසික පෙරහරවල කරඬුව හා දේවාභරණ වැඩමකරවීමට කෘති්රම අලි ඇතුන් යොදා ගැනීමට සිදුවනු නියතය.
මේ පිළිබඳව රජයේ අවධානය යොමුකර වාර්ෂිකව පෙරහර පවත්වනු ලබන විහාර හා දේවාලවලට මෙන්ම අලි ඇතුන් නඩත්තු කිරීමට පළපුරුද්ද හා සියලූ පහසුකම් ඇති අයට පින්නවල අලි අනාථාගාරයේ සිටින අතිරික්ත සතුන් කිහිපදෙනකු ලබාදෙන ලෙසත්, රාජ්ය මට්ටමින් සාකච්ඡා කර වෙනත් ආසියාතික රටකින් දළ ඇතුන් කිහිපදෙනකු ගෙන්වා දෙන ලෙසත් ශ්රී ලංකාවේ හීලෑ අලි ඇතුන් අයිතිකරුවන්ගේ සංවිධානයේ සභාපති නිලංග දෑල දියවඩන නිළමේතුමන් රජයෙන් විශේෂ ඉල්ලීමක් කර තිබේ.
කෙසේ වෙතත් දැනට පින්නවල අලි අනාථාගාරයේ ඇතිවී තිබෙන්නාවූ තදබදය ඇතුළු තවත් ගැටලූ කිහිපයක් නිසා එහි සිටින අතිරික්ත අලි කිහිපදෙනකු සංස්කෘතික කටයුතුවලට පමණක් යොදවා ගතයුතුය යන කොන්දේසියට යටත්ව තෝරාගත් විහාර දේවාලවලට රැකබලා ගැනීමේ පදනම මත බාරදීමට ආරම්භ කර තිබීම පිළිබඳව සතුටු විය හැකිවන අතර එය හීලෑ අලි ඇතුන්ගේ අඩුව පිරවීමට යම් තරමකින් හෝ ඉවහල් වනු ඇත.
හීලෑ අතුන් හිමියන්ගේ සංගමයේ ලේකම් දම්සිරි බණ්ඩාර කරුණාරත්න
මාළිගාවේ කරඬුව වැඩම කරවීමට සූදානම් වන නැදුන්ගමුවේ රාජා ඇතා
දැනට ඉතිරිව සිටින දළ ඇතුන් 18 දෙනෙකු පසුගිය වසරේදී මහනුවර ශ්රී දළදා මාළිගාව ඉදිරියේ
පින්නවල අලියා අලි අමාරුවක
2011 සැප්තැම්බර් මස 09 14:17:16 | රූපරත්න පියදාස
තව වසර දහයකින් පින්නවල අලි අනාථාගාරයේ අලි ඇතුන් විරූපීවීමේ අවදානමක් ඇතැයි මාලදිවයිනේ ශ්රී ලංකා තානාපති ඩික්සන් දෑල මහතා යාල වනෝද්යානයේ දී ප්රකාශ කෙළේය. ඇවිදීම සඳහා අලියකුට වර්ග කිලෝමීටර් දහයක් පමණ ඕනෑ. අලියකුට ලූණු ඕනෑ ඒ වගේම පෝෂ්යදායි කෑම බීම ඕනෑ. පින්නවල දී ඒ පහසුකම් නැති නිසා අනාගත අලි ඇතුන් විරූප වීමේ අවදානමක් ඇතැයි ඔහු කීවේය.
තව වසර දහයකින් පින්නවල අලි අනාථාගාරයේ අලි ඇතුන් විරූපීවීමේ අවදානමක් ඇතැයි මාලදිවයිනේ ශ්රී ලංකා තානාපති ඩික්සන් දෑල මහතා යාල වනෝද්යානයේ දී ප්රකාශ කෙළේය. ඇවිදීම සඳහා අලියකුට වර්ග කිලෝමීටර් දහයක් පමණ ඕනෑ. අලියකුට ලූණු ඕනෑ ඒ වගේම පෝෂ්යදායි කෑම බීම ඕනෑ. පින්නවල දී ඒ පහසුකම් නැති නිසා අනාගත අලි ඇතුන් විරූප වීමේ අවදානමක් ඇතැයි ඔහු කීවේය.
Monday, September 12, 2011
දිය පිපාසයෙන් පීඩිත වල් අලි ගම් වදිති
සටහන හා ඡායාරූපය - එප්පාවල සමූහ
තලාවට නුදුරුව ඇති තිරප්පනේ ප්රදේශය කැලෑබද ගම්මානයකි. ගම්මානයේ තැනින් තැන එළි පෙහෙළි කරගෙන ගෙවල් දොරවල් හදාගෙන පාරම්පරික මේ වනගත පරිසරයේ පවුල් පනහක් හැටක් කල දවස ගෙවති. ඔවුන් ගේ දිවි පෙවෙත ගෙවෙන්නේ ගමේ වැව වූ තිරප්පනේ වැව හරහා ය. තිරප්පනේ ගම පෙරදා සිට පැවත එන වැව් ගම්මානයකි. මේ වැව් ගම්මානයට යාබද කැලෑ කුට්ටිවල වල්අලි රංචු පිටින් වෙසෙති. ඔව්හු කැලෑවේද, ගම්මු ගෙවල්වල ද ජීවත් වූහ. ගම්මුද අලි ඇතුන්ද ගමේ වැවෙන් ප්රයෝජන ගත්හ.
පතුලටම සිඳී ගිය තිරප්පනේ වැව
හැමදාමත් ගොම්මන් වෙලාවට අලිමංතලා දිගේ එළිබහින අලි රංචු වැවට බැස පිපාසය සංසිඳුවා ගෙන පැය දෙකතුනේ දිය කෙළියේ රැඳී සිට නැවත වැවෙන් ගොඩවී අලි බඩවල් පුරවා ගන්නට කැලේට වදිති. මේ අලින් ගේ යාමය නිසා මේ වෙලාවට කිසිවෙකු වැවට එන්නේ නැත. මේ දිනවල රජරටට පවත්නා දැඩි නියගය නිසා බොහෝ ඇල - දොළ - වැව් – අමුණු සිඳී ගොස් ඇත. තරප්පනේ වැවද පතුලටම සිඳී ගොස් තිබේ. ගහ කොළ වේලීම නිසා අලි ඇතුන්ට කෑම හිඟ විය.
වැව් අමුණු වේලීයාම නිසා බීමද හිඟ විය. දැන් අලි ඇත්තු වියරු වී සිටිති. පසුගියදා පුරුදු පරිදි අලි රංචුව ගොම්මං වෙලාවට අලි මං තලාවලින් එළියට බැස තිරප්පනේ වැවට පාත් වූයේ පිපාසය සංසිඳුවා ගන්නට ය. ඒත් වැවේ දිය පොදක්වත් නැත. එයින් වියරු වැටුණ අලි රංචුව වැව පාමුල පිහිටි පියසේන ගේ පීදෙන වයසේ තිබූ අක්කරයක් තරම්වූ කෙසෙල් කොටුවට කඩා වැදුණි. පිපාසයෙන් පීඩිතව සිටි අලි රංචුව කෙසෙල් පඳුරුවලට හොඬවැල් තියා ගත්හ. එකිනෙක ගස් උදුරා හක්කට ගෙන උරාබී හපකර දමා පිපාසය සංසිඳවා ගෙන හිමිදිරි පාන්දර ආපසු හැරුණි.
වැව් අමුණු වේලීයාම නිසා බීමද හිඟ විය. දැන් අලි ඇත්තු වියරු වී සිටිති. පසුගියදා පුරුදු පරිදි අලි රංචුව ගොම්මං වෙලාවට අලි මං තලාවලින් එළියට බැස තිරප්පනේ වැවට පාත් වූයේ පිපාසය සංසිඳුවා ගන්නට ය. ඒත් වැවේ දිය පොදක්වත් නැත. එයින් වියරු වැටුණ අලි රංචුව වැව පාමුල පිහිටි පියසේන ගේ පීදෙන වයසේ තිබූ අක්කරයක් තරම්වූ කෙසෙල් කොටුවට කඩා වැදුණි. පිපාසයෙන් පීඩිතව සිටි අලි රංචුව කෙසෙල් පඳුරුවලට හොඬවැල් තියා ගත්හ. එකිනෙක ගස් උදුරා හක්කට ගෙන උරාබී හපකර දමා පිපාසය සංසිඳවා ගෙන හිමිදිරි පාන්දර ආපසු හැරුණි.
http://www.dinamina.lk/2011/09/13/_art.asp?fn=r1109134
සධාතුක කරඬුව වැඩම කිරීමට ඉන්දියාවෙන් දළ ඇතුන්
අසේල කුරුළුවංශ සහ තිලක් පුෂ්පකුමාර
මහනුවර ඇසළ පෙරහරේ සධාතුක කරඬුව වැඩම කරවීම සඳහා පරිණත දළ ඇතුන් කිහිප දෙනකු මෙරටට ලබාදීමට ඉන්දීය රජය එකඟතාව පළ කර තිබේ.
ජනපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ඉන්දීය රජයෙන් කළ ඉල්ලීමකට අනුව මෙම දළ ඇතුන් ලබාදීමට ඉන්දීය රජයේ අවධානය යොමුවූ බව ශ්රී ලංකාවේ ඉන්දියානු මහ කොමසාරිස් අශෝක් කේ. කාන්ත් මහතා පැවැසීය.
අශෝක් කේ. කාන්ත් මහතා මේ සම්බන්ධව පසුගියදා (29) මල්වතු අස්ගිරි මහ නායක ස්වාමින්ද්රයන් වහන්සේ දෙනම දැනුවත් කරනු ලැබීය. මේ සම්බන්ධව තමන් විශේෂ අවධානය යොමු කර අදාළ සම්බන්ධීකරණ කටයුතු සිදුකරන බව මෙහිදී මහ කොමසාරිස්වරයා මහ නාහිමිවරු හමුවේ ප්රකාශ කෙළේය.
ශ්රී දළදා මාලිගාවේ පෙරහරේ සධාතුක කරඬුව වැඩම කරවීමට අද ඉතිරිව සිටින්නේ පරිණත දළ ඇතුන් තිදෙනකු බැවින් දළ ඇතුන් වැඩිපුර සංඛ්යාවක් ලබාදීම කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කරන ලෙස මෙහිදී අස්ගිරි මහ නාහිමියෝ අශෝක් කේ. කාන්ත් මහතාගෙන් ඉල්ලීමක් කළහ.
http://www.dinamina.lk/2011/09/12/_art.asp?fn=n110912_2
මහනුවර ඇසළ පෙරහරේ සධාතුක කරඬුව වැඩම කරවීම සඳහා පරිණත දළ ඇතුන් කිහිප දෙනකු මෙරටට ලබාදීමට ඉන්දීය රජය එකඟතාව පළ කර තිබේ.
ජනපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ඉන්දීය රජයෙන් කළ ඉල්ලීමකට අනුව මෙම දළ ඇතුන් ලබාදීමට ඉන්දීය රජයේ අවධානය යොමුවූ බව ශ්රී ලංකාවේ ඉන්දියානු මහ කොමසාරිස් අශෝක් කේ. කාන්ත් මහතා පැවැසීය.
අශෝක් කේ. කාන්ත් මහතා මේ සම්බන්ධව පසුගියදා (29) මල්වතු අස්ගිරි මහ නායක ස්වාමින්ද්රයන් වහන්සේ දෙනම දැනුවත් කරනු ලැබීය. මේ සම්බන්ධව තමන් විශේෂ අවධානය යොමු කර අදාළ සම්බන්ධීකරණ කටයුතු සිදුකරන බව මෙහිදී මහ කොමසාරිස්වරයා මහ නාහිමිවරු හමුවේ ප්රකාශ කෙළේය.
ශ්රී දළදා මාලිගාවේ පෙරහරේ සධාතුක කරඬුව වැඩම කරවීමට අද ඉතිරිව සිටින්නේ පරිණත දළ ඇතුන් තිදෙනකු බැවින් දළ ඇතුන් වැඩිපුර සංඛ්යාවක් ලබාදීම කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කරන ලෙස මෙහිදී අස්ගිරි මහ නාහිමියෝ අශෝක් කේ. කාන්ත් මහතාගෙන් ඉල්ලීමක් කළහ.
http://www.dinamina.lk/2011/09/12/_art.asp?fn=n110912_2
විල්පත්තුවේ සංවර්ධනයට මිලියන 390 ක් වැය කෙරේ
අනුර බාලසූරිය
විල්පත්තු ජාතික වනෝද්යානයේ වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණ කටයුතු හා සංචාරකයන්ගේ පහසුකම් වැඩිදියුණු කිරීමේ කටයුතු වෙනුවෙන් රුපියල් මිලියන 390 ක් වැය කෙරෙනු ඇතැයි වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්යක්ෂ ජනරාල් එච්. ඩී. රත්නායක මහතා සඳහන් කළේය.
ගොවිජන සේවා හා වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණ ඇමැති එස්. එම්. චJද්රසේන මහතාගේ උපදෙස් පරිදි "දැයට කිරුළ" වැඩසටහනට සමගාමීව මෙම සංවර්ධන කටයුතු සිදුකෙරෙනු ඇත.
සංචාරකයන් වෙනුවෙන් වනෝද්යානය තුළ මාර්ග කිලෝමීටර් 100 ක් පමණ ප්රතිසංස්කරණය කිරීමටත් සංචාරක නිවහන් තුනක් ඉදිකිරීමටත් සැලසුම් කර තිබේ.
වනෝද්යානයට ඇතුළුවීම සඳහා තන්තිරිමලේ හා සිලාවතුර ප්රදේශවලින් නව පිවිසුම් දොරටු දෙකක්ද ඉදිකෙරෙනු ඇත.
මේ අතර වනෝද්යානය තුළ සිටින වන සතුන්ගේ ජල අවශ්යතා වෙනුවෙන් ඒ තුළ තිබෙන වැව් පහක් ප්රතිසංස්කරණය කිරීමටත් කටයුතු යොදා ඇත.
මෙයට අමතරව වනෝද්යානය තුළ සිටින අලි ඇතුන් ගම්වැදීම වැළැක්වීමට ඔයාමඩුව ප්රදේශයෙන් කිලෝමීටර් 95 ක් දිගට විදුලි වැටක් ඉදිකිරීමටත් දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව පියවර ගෙන තිබේ.
http://www.divaina.com/2011/09/12/news13.html
විල්පත්තු ජාතික වනෝද්යානයේ වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණ කටයුතු හා සංචාරකයන්ගේ පහසුකම් වැඩිදියුණු කිරීමේ කටයුතු වෙනුවෙන් රුපියල් මිලියන 390 ක් වැය කෙරෙනු ඇතැයි වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්යක්ෂ ජනරාල් එච්. ඩී. රත්නායක මහතා සඳහන් කළේය.
ගොවිජන සේවා හා වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණ ඇමැති එස්. එම්. චJද්රසේන මහතාගේ උපදෙස් පරිදි "දැයට කිරුළ" වැඩසටහනට සමගාමීව මෙම සංවර්ධන කටයුතු සිදුකෙරෙනු ඇත.
සංචාරකයන් වෙනුවෙන් වනෝද්යානය තුළ මාර්ග කිලෝමීටර් 100 ක් පමණ ප්රතිසංස්කරණය කිරීමටත් සංචාරක නිවහන් තුනක් ඉදිකිරීමටත් සැලසුම් කර තිබේ.
වනෝද්යානයට ඇතුළුවීම සඳහා තන්තිරිමලේ හා සිලාවතුර ප්රදේශවලින් නව පිවිසුම් දොරටු දෙකක්ද ඉදිකෙරෙනු ඇත.
මේ අතර වනෝද්යානය තුළ සිටින වන සතුන්ගේ ජල අවශ්යතා වෙනුවෙන් ඒ තුළ තිබෙන වැව් පහක් ප්රතිසංස්කරණය කිරීමටත් කටයුතු යොදා ඇත.
මෙයට අමතරව වනෝද්යානය තුළ සිටින අලි ඇතුන් ගම්වැදීම වැළැක්වීමට ඔයාමඩුව ප්රදේශයෙන් කිලෝමීටර් 95 ක් දිගට විදුලි වැටක් ඉදිකිරීමටත් දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව පියවර ගෙන තිබේ.
http://www.divaina.com/2011/09/12/news13.html
Vehicle damaged in elephant attack
Text and pic by Sunbasinghe Bandara in Saliya Wewa
A vehicle, belonging to the Gaja Mithuru Unit of the Wildlife Department, was badly damaged, following an elephant attack on Saturday in Bundala.
Wildlife Department officials yesterday said that they had been informed by villagers, living in close proximity to the Maha Eliya Tank, that a herd of elephants were roaming in the vicinity and rushed there to drive the herd away.
When the officials moved into action, the elephants attacked the vehicle damaging it.
Later, the Police joined the operation and helped chase away the elephants.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=34462
Jumbo attack results in death
W.C.B. Fernando Pattulam Group Corr
Two persons of Devala Junction, Mundalama were attacked by a wild elephant yesterday (11) resulting in the death of one person and the other being admitted to the hospital with serious injuries.
The two men were walking on the road to the bus stand when they were attacked by the elephant. C.E. Wijeratne (72) died in the attack while H.A. Seneviratne (65) sustained severe injuries and is currently warded at the Chilaw hospital.
Mundalama Police are investigating.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/09/12/news23.asp
Two persons of Devala Junction, Mundalama were attacked by a wild elephant yesterday (11) resulting in the death of one person and the other being admitted to the hospital with serious injuries.
The two men were walking on the road to the bus stand when they were attacked by the elephant. C.E. Wijeratne (72) died in the attack while H.A. Seneviratne (65) sustained severe injuries and is currently warded at the Chilaw hospital.
Mundalama Police are investigating.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/09/12/news23.asp
බොරු කකුලකින් ඇවිදින පින්නවල සාමාගේ කතාව
2011 සැප්තැම්බර් මස 11 11:48:26 | ලංකාදීප කර්තෘ මණ්ඩලය
කොර ගසමින් යන සාමා
දවස සිකුරාදාවකි. වේලාව සවස හතරයි තිහයි. පැය දෙක හමාරක පමණ කාලයක් මා ඔයේ කෙළිදෙළෙන් ගත කළ අලි රංචුව මඩ සහිත ඉවුරෙන් ගොඩ වී ගල් ඇතුරූ පාරට ගොඩවූයේ සිය නවාතැන් පොළ වෙත යන්නටය. මඟ දෙපසින්ම ඇත්තේ විවිධ සමරු තිළිණ සහිත වෙළෙඳසල් සහ බෝජුන් හල්ය. එවායේ රැඳී ඉන්නා දේශීය හා විදේශීය සංචාරකයෝ ඇස් අයාගෙන අර අලි රංචුව දෙස බලා සිටිති. ඔවුන්ගේ ඇස්වල සටහන්ව ඇත්තේ විමතියයි. මිනිත්තු කිහිපයක් ඇතුළත නික්ම ගිය අලි රැළ ඉනික්බිති පින්නවල අලි අනාථගාරය තුළට වැදෙනු ඇත්තේය. එහෙත් මේ පිරිස අතර සිටින එක් සතෙක් පිළිබඳ මතකය කොයි කාගේත් සිත් තුළ රැඳී පවතින්නේ කිසියම් අනුකම්පාවක්ද සමගය. ඒ සතා වූ කලී කෙනරකි. කවුරු කවුරුත් පොදුවේ වහරණ බසින් නම් ඇතින්නකි.
නමින් සාමා වූ මේ ඇතින්න උතුරු පළාතේ වනයක දී බිම් බෝම්බයකට අසු වී පයක් අහිමිකරගත් අබ්බගාතයෙකි. එහෙත් දැන් රැළේ අනෙකුත් අලින් සමග ඇවිද යන විට මේ ඇතින්නගෙන් කිසිදු වෙනසක් නොපෙනෙයි. ඇය සාමාන්ය ලෙස පියවර තබා යන නිසාය. එහෙත් වසර දහයකට පෙර පස් හැවිරිදි පැටියකුව සිටි මේ ඇතින්න අලි අනාථගාරයට ගෙන එද්දී ඇය සිටියේ ඇවිද යන්නට පවා නොහැකිවය. ළඟට දෙන කෑමක් කමින්, බොමින් රැළේ අනෙක් සාමාජිකයන්ගේ උදව් පදව් ද ලබා ගනිමින් ය. දහසය වසරකට පෙර මා මුලින්ම සාමා දුටු දා පශූ වෛද්ය චන්දන රාජපක්ෂගෙන් සාමාගේ සෞඛ්ය තත්ත්වය ගැන විමසුවෙමි. ඔහු කෙරෙන් පළවූයේ දුක්මුසු බැල්මකි.
”ටිකින් ටික වර්ධනය වෙන කොට සාමාගේ සිරුරේ බරත් වැඩිවෙනවා. එතකොට ඇගේ ශරීරයේ සමබරතාව බිඳෙන්න පුළුවන්. ඒ වගේම ඇය ඇවිද යන ඉරියව්ව වෙනස් වීම නිසා එය ඇගේ ශරීරයේ අභ්යන්තර අවයවවලටත් යම් බලපෑමක් කරන්න පුළුවනි. ඒ වගේම ඇයට බලපාන තවත් බරපතළම ප්රශ්නය වන්නේ ඇගේ ඉළ ඇට කූඩුව ඇගේ හදවතටත් පෙනහලූවලටත් කිසියම් තද වීමක් ඇති කිරීමයි. ඒත් ඒවට නම් අපට කරන්න කිසිම දෙයක් නෑ...”
කෙසේ වෙතත් ජාත්යන්තරයේ අවධානය මේ කුඩා සාමා වෙත යොමු වීම නිසා ඇයට උදව් කරන්නට පිරිස් ඉදිරිපත් වූහ.විකලාංග චිකිත්සකයෙක්, පශූ වෛද්යවරයකු සහ කායික චිකිත්සකයකු ද අලි ඇතුන් පුහුණුකරුවකු ද මේ පිරිසට අයත් වූ අතර ඔවුන් පැමිණියේ සාමාට කෘතී්රම පාදයක් සවිකරන්නටය. ඔවුන් කෘතී්රම පාදයක් සවිකළත් ඒ ව්යායාමය අසාර්ථක විය. ඔවුන ද නැවත නැවතත් උත්සාහ කළත් තුන් වතාවක්ම ඒ කටයුත්ත අසාර්ථක විය. හේතුව වූයේ සාමා මේ බොරු කකුළට අනුගත වීමට අපොහොසත් වීමය. අවසානයේ ඇගේ ගොව්වෝ සාමාව රැළෙන් ඉවත් කිරීමටත්, රැළ සමග ඇයට එකතුවීමටත් ඉඩ නොදෙන්නටත් එකඟ වූහ. ඒ අනුව ක්රමයෙන් බොරු කකුළට හුරු පුරුදු වන්නට මේ ඇතින්න සමත් වූවාය. එහෙත් එහි ප්රතිඵලයක් ලෙස වසර කිහිපයක් යනතුරුම මේ ඇතින්නට ඇගේ රැළට එකතුවන්නට නොහැකි වූවාය. රැළේ සාමාජිකයන් ඇය ප්රතික්ෂේප කළ බැවිනි.
(ෆ්රන්ට්ලයින් සඟරාව ඇසුරිනි)
නමින් සාමා වූ මේ ඇතින්න උතුරු පළාතේ වනයක දී බිම් බෝම්බයකට අසු වී පයක් අහිමිකරගත් අබ්බගාතයෙකි. එහෙත් දැන් රැළේ අනෙකුත් අලින් සමග ඇවිද යන විට මේ ඇතින්නගෙන් කිසිදු වෙනසක් නොපෙනෙයි. ඇය සාමාන්ය ලෙස පියවර තබා යන නිසාය. එහෙත් වසර දහයකට පෙර පස් හැවිරිදි පැටියකුව සිටි මේ ඇතින්න අලි අනාථගාරයට ගෙන එද්දී ඇය සිටියේ ඇවිද යන්නට පවා නොහැකිවය. ළඟට දෙන කෑමක් කමින්, බොමින් රැළේ අනෙක් සාමාජිකයන්ගේ උදව් පදව් ද ලබා ගනිමින් ය. දහසය වසරකට පෙර මා මුලින්ම සාමා දුටු දා පශූ වෛද්ය චන්දන රාජපක්ෂගෙන් සාමාගේ සෞඛ්ය තත්ත්වය ගැන විමසුවෙමි. ඔහු කෙරෙන් පළවූයේ දුක්මුසු බැල්මකි.
”ටිකින් ටික වර්ධනය වෙන කොට සාමාගේ සිරුරේ බරත් වැඩිවෙනවා. එතකොට ඇගේ ශරීරයේ සමබරතාව බිඳෙන්න පුළුවන්. ඒ වගේම ඇය ඇවිද යන ඉරියව්ව වෙනස් වීම නිසා එය ඇගේ ශරීරයේ අභ්යන්තර අවයවවලටත් යම් බලපෑමක් කරන්න පුළුවනි. ඒ වගේම ඇයට බලපාන තවත් බරපතළම ප්රශ්නය වන්නේ ඇගේ ඉළ ඇට කූඩුව ඇගේ හදවතටත් පෙනහලූවලටත් කිසියම් තද වීමක් ඇති කිරීමයි. ඒත් ඒවට නම් අපට කරන්න කිසිම දෙයක් නෑ...”
කෙසේ වෙතත් ජාත්යන්තරයේ අවධානය මේ කුඩා සාමා වෙත යොමු වීම නිසා ඇයට උදව් කරන්නට පිරිස් ඉදිරිපත් වූහ.විකලාංග චිකිත්සකයෙක්, පශූ වෛද්යවරයකු සහ කායික චිකිත්සකයකු ද අලි ඇතුන් පුහුණුකරුවකු ද මේ පිරිසට අයත් වූ අතර ඔවුන් පැමිණියේ සාමාට කෘතී්රම පාදයක් සවිකරන්නටය. ඔවුන් කෘතී්රම පාදයක් සවිකළත් ඒ ව්යායාමය අසාර්ථක විය. ඔවුන ද නැවත නැවතත් උත්සාහ කළත් තුන් වතාවක්ම ඒ කටයුත්ත අසාර්ථක විය. හේතුව වූයේ සාමා මේ බොරු කකුළට අනුගත වීමට අපොහොසත් වීමය. අවසානයේ ඇගේ ගොව්වෝ සාමාව රැළෙන් ඉවත් කිරීමටත්, රැළ සමග ඇයට එකතුවීමටත් ඉඩ නොදෙන්නටත් එකඟ වූහ. ඒ අනුව ක්රමයෙන් බොරු කකුළට හුරු පුරුදු වන්නට මේ ඇතින්න සමත් වූවාය. එහෙත් එහි ප්රතිඵලයක් ලෙස වසර කිහිපයක් යනතුරුම මේ ඇතින්නට ඇගේ රැළට එකතුවන්නට නොහැකි වූවාය. රැළේ සාමාජිකයන් ඇය ප්රතික්ෂේප කළ බැවිනි.
(ෆ්රන්ට්ලයින් සඟරාව ඇසුරිනි)
කොර ගසමින් යන සාමා
කොර ගසමින් යන සාමා
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Farmers’ fast ends: Protestors hospitalised
Tuesday, 06 September 2011
By Ajithlal Shanthaudaya
The five-day-old fast by a group of farmers against the proposed electric fence at Dahaiyagala in Hambegamuwa ended last morning when the Minister of Agrarian Services and Wildlife met the protestors to fulfill the promise to provide land to the farmers who would lose their land for the proposed project.
The protestors pointed out that the land and paddy fields belonging to more than 100 farmers would come within the proposed electric fence. Four men and four women had joined the protest. Two women who were in a critical condition had been admitted to hospital earlier and others were rushed to the Hambegamuwa hospital soon after calling off the fast.
http://print.dailymirror.lk/news/news/55365.html
By Ajithlal Shanthaudaya
The five-day-old fast by a group of farmers against the proposed electric fence at Dahaiyagala in Hambegamuwa ended last morning when the Minister of Agrarian Services and Wildlife met the protestors to fulfill the promise to provide land to the farmers who would lose their land for the proposed project.
The protestors pointed out that the land and paddy fields belonging to more than 100 farmers would come within the proposed electric fence. Four men and four women had joined the protest. Two women who were in a critical condition had been admitted to hospital earlier and others were rushed to the Hambegamuwa hospital soon after calling off the fast.
http://print.dailymirror.lk/news/news/55365.html
Raising Animals in Captivity at Temples
September 5, 2011, 6:57 pm
By Ravi Palihawadana
I completely fail to understand the proclivity of certain Buddhist monks to raise animals in captivity at temples. Nearly three decades ago, as a 22 year old youth, a few friends and I got up at 4 o’clock in the morning and trekked 10 km along a footpath from the confluence of rivers Ganga and Varuna to Isipatanaramaya at Sarnath, India. This is supposed to be the path trodden by the Buddha whenever he spent the rainy (Vassana) season at Isipatanaramaya. We walked through mango and bamboo groves. It was an exhilarating experience. We could almost feel the presence of the Buddha and his benevolence towards all living beings. However, upon reaching Isipatanaramaya, we were dismayed to see caged peacocks. The whole place was highly commercialised. The obvious distress of the caged birds was certainly loathsome. We all felt that the incumbent monk had entirely failed to appreciate the fact that it was the place where the Buddha set in motion a process that would over a period of more than 2500 years help liberate hundreds of thousands if not millions of individuals from all their worldly bonds and set them totally, unconditionally free. Who in his right mind would want to imprison animals at such a hallowed precinct? I see Buddhist temples as places that should enable people to free themselves from worldly bonds. Does it make any sense to keep animals in captivity at such places?
Let us examine what the Buddha has said about conduct towards living beings. In ‘Karaniya Metta Sutta’ (Discourse on Loving Kindness) he says:
"Just as a mother would guard her only child at risk to her own life
Even so towards, all beings
Let one cultivate loving kindness."
In Dhammapada, the Buddha declares:
"All are afraid of the rod all, fear death.
Taking oneself as an example, do not beat or kill."
And in Vasala Sutta (Discourse on Outcasts), he pronounces:
"Whosoever in this world kills living beings,
Once born or twice born (i.e.,, first born cis an egg and then born for a second time as a hatchling),
In whom there is no sympathy for living beings
Know hint an outcast (untouchable). "
As such, it is with dismay that I learn that it has become a fashion among certain influential Buddhist monks to raise baby elephants at their temples. Recently a baby elephant was being transported from one temple to another without obtaining required official approval. The driver of the truck and the mahout were brought before a court of law and charged with cruelty to a captive elephant. The accused pleaded guilty and were fined. Although only the driver and mahout were hauled up before courts; the calf was being transported at the behest of two highly influential Buddhist monks. What is most disturbing is that the poor animal was being raised in captivity at the temple of one of those eminent monks. Elephants say the baby elephant cannot be more than three years old although in its adoption papers its mother’s name has been given as `Kale Alma’, which died about six years ago. The baby has been separated from its mother long before it reached the recommended age for weaning at the expense of its wellbeing. Besides, it is no secret among elephant lovers that the process euphemistically referred to as taming is cruel. Baby elephants are made to obey a mahout’s orders by keeping them in close confinement, withdrawal of food and water, and by constant merciless beating.
Bearing in mind the Buddha’s words on how to treat all sentient beings; even if we disregard the treatment meted out to this poor baby elephant at the temple and dwell only on this nightmarish episode of transporting it in the cover of night, the implications are appalling. By cruelly inflicting untold misery on it and thereby placing the life of the cub in danger, the first precept of abstaining from killing has been violated.. Secondly, the cub was robbed of the inalienable right to roam freely in its natural habitat. Thirdly, false information was furnished about the mother of the animal. Fourthly, this cruel act had the blessings of individuals intoxicated with political power. In this preposterous exercise, three or four out of the five basic precepts were violated. That being so, the consequences of meting out cruel. treatment to the baby elephant at the temple on a day to day basis are unthinkable. Perhaps it was on witnessing such conduct by certain monks that the late Dr. E.W. Adikaram is supposed to have remarked, "It is my ardent wish that these monks would one day embrace Buddhism!"
Animal lovers may shout from the rooftops. But it is the Buddhist clergy who must finally decide whether the practice of keeping animals in captivity and separating them fro their mothers at a very tender age is consistent with the teachings of the Enlightened One! Until then there the status quo will remain. Let us fervently hope that this cruel practice will be abandoned before long.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=33993
Monday, September 5, 2011
Keep away during jumbo rescue missions: Wildlife officials appeal to villagers
| Text and pix by Jayarathne Wickramarachchi | ||
Wildlife officials this week appealed to the public to keep away when elephants are being rescued from ditches or wells, as they could easily become boisterous, once freed.
This was after two elephants strayed into a village close to the Wilpattu Sanctuary early this week, and fell into a well used for irrigation purposes. People around gathered and helped the Wildlife officials to get one of the animals out of the well, when it charged a woman carrying a child, who was in the crowd. A Wildlife official shouted at the elephant, in an attempt to distract it, when the animal turned its attention on the official and charged him instead.Wildlife officer S. Ranjith narrowly escaped being trampled to death, when the crowd screamed at the animal and scared it away. Ranjith, a father of three, attached to the Wildlife office in Katupathwewa, managed to escape with scratches on his body. A Wildlife official who wished to remain anonymous, said that the reaction of lookers-on, soon after an elephant falls into a pit, is to gather around, thus ‘getting in the way’ of officials in their rescue efforts. |
Sunday, September 4, 2011
One elephant for every 3,300 persons in Lanka
| Results of jumbo census out | ||||
| By Kumudini Hettiarachchi | ||||
The numbers are out - there are 5,879 wild elephants including 1,107 babies in the country, the first-ever National Survey of jumbos has found. This figure is more or less correct, but you cannot count elephants siyayata siyayak (100%) like you would do in a population census where you go and knock on doors, Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S.M. Chandrasena told a crowded press conference on Friday at the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) at Battaramulla.
The initial results are being released due to media requests from the time the survey was conducted from August 11-14, DWC Director-General H.D. Ratnayake said. Media focus on the elephant survey heightened after Minister Chandrasena got embroiled in a controversy over alleged remarks, denied later, that the survey would help identify 300 baby tuskers for capture and domestication for use in peraheras. This resulted in most conservation groups which had agreed to extend their support in the counting pulling out. Referring to the controversy, Minister Chandrasena said on Friday that he loved elephants and will not allow the capture of tuskers from the wild. He would also never break the law which clearly prohibited such action. Among the wild elephants are 122 tuskers, the survey costing Rs. 23 million conducted in six of seven "wildlife regions" which comprise elephant habitat, has found. The number of baby tuskers found in the wild has not been specified yet. The survey used the "water-hole count method", a technique heavily questioned by many scientists and given up as unreliable in other countries. We also confirmed the presence of elephants at Sinharaja and Sri Pada, Mr. Ratnayake said. Two elephants have been spotted in the Sinharaja rainforest and 18 at Sri Pada, which are the only wild elephants in the wet zone. (See graphic for elephant distribution) While stressing that the survey was to get athyavashya daththa (vital data) which would be the basis of future action, especially in the management of wild elephants and the mitigation of the human-elephant conflict (HEC), DG Ratnayake, however, pointed out that the actual figures could be slightly different with a few elephants being missed out. This is the very point that elephant conservationists have been protesting about loud and clear not only in the run-up to the survey but even now. The survey figures, from what has come out of Friday's press conference, may be exactly the actual number of wild elephants or way below or way above, a conservationist said, questioning why the DWC uses methodologies that are outdated and questionable. Does not the DWC have more pressing matters to attend to rather than spending not only time but also money and manpower on a survey which has yielded data which may be accurate or wrong, but which it is no one would know asked another activist, bringing to the fore issues of double-counting and missed elephants. Tackling a different angle, many conservationists also asked how this data could be used in the conservation of elephants or mitigation of the HEC as claimed. They voiced concerns such as - on what basis the DWC will decide whether the number of elephants counted in Sri Lanka, in a particular region or in a specific locality, are insufficient, enough or too many and what will be done if it is too low or too high. Elephant numbers are elusive and there could be severe consequences of using flawed survey data for management, echoed another environmentalist. A "detailed report" is being prepared and should be ready within three months, it is learnt. |
Golf course threat to prime natural habitat in Udawalawe
| Villagers and conservationists vehemently reject so-called ‘eco-friendly’ recreation project in Bogahapattiya. | ||||||
| Malaka Rodrigo reports | ||||||
This happens to be the International Year of Forests, but little is being done to protect our own forests and natural habitats. Rampant, irresponsible deforestation continues around the country. The latest threat to habitat is reported from the Udawalawe area. Over 600 acres of land in Bogahapattiya have been earmarked for a proposed golf course. A private company, according to villagers living in the area, has bought 628 acres of land to construct a golf course in Bogahapattiya. This is prime forest territory, with savannah grasslands inhabited by elephant, bear, sambhur and other animals.
Should the golf course project go through, Sri Lanka will lose considerable area of an extremely bio-diverse forest. These tropical deciduous forests, as they are called, are the most threatened forest type on earth, according to conservationists. These forests are under greater threat than rainforests: they are being lost at a faster rate and cover land areas that are very favourable to human activity. But there is more to the threat than losing valuable forest cover. Loss of vegetation caused by deforestation leads to soil erosion and run-off. The silted water ends up in the Weli Oya reservoir, which irrigates more than 3,000 acres of paddy land and feeds 27 small tanks. The villagers in the area are wholly on the side of the conservationists. They say the Bogahapattiya forest is of great importance to them. Apart from serving many environmental needs, the forest also feeds two streams that enter the Weli Oya, which in turn feeds into the Walawe. The entire area is a hugely important watershed for populations downstream. The land selected for the golf course comes right up to where the two streams, including the Demata Ara, join up with the Weli Oya at a small dam. Construction work on the intended golf course will disrupt the Weli Oya irrigation system. Speaking on behalf of the villagers of Bogahapattiya, senior Buddhist monk Nelliwala Sumedhalankara Thera said thousands of families depend on agriculture based on the waters of the Weli Oya. The thera said the paddy farmers already face hardships because of water shortages. The Weli Oya is not always filled to capacity, and felling trees upstream would only make matters worse for the farmers. Shermin de Silva, a conservationist who has studied the elephants of Udawalawe, says the area is a vital elephant habitat. Bogahapattiya has unique mineral deposits which serve as salt licks. These natural mineral deposits provide essential nutrients for animals living in nutrient-poor ecosystems. Elephants in the Udawalawe National Park travel to Bogahapattiya, through the Dahaiyagala Elephant Corridor to satisfy nutritional needs. Dahaiyagala was in the news when attempts were made to fence off Udawalawe. Environmental Foundation and other environmental groups went to court and obtained a court order to halt the fencing.
Environmental Foundation Limited legal officer Wardani Karunaratne says that even if the golf course was built on privately owned land, the owners had to abide by the law and obtain an Environmental Impact Assessment. She said no such assessment has been made. Meanwhile, Bogahapattiya residents say trees have been marked for felling. Legal experts say there are many irregularities in the way the project is being handled. Bogahapattiya has Proposed Sanctuary status, which means it does not have the full legal protection given to vital ecosystems. The area was to be declared a sanctuary, under the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Later, it was proposed that the land be declared a Conservation Forest, under the Forest Department. While the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Forest Department argue over who is responsible for what, Bogahapattiya remains seriously threatened, and for what is seen as mere “short-term gains.” According to Sumedhalankara Thera, a company named Alpha Omega is behind the golf course project, supported by a US-based Sri Lankan businessman named Vasu Nawalingam. A carbon credit certification conducted by Alpha Omega lists 305 acres of the Bogahapattiya land as dense primary forest, and 195 acres as savannah forest. The Sumedhalankara Thera says Alpha Omega has purchased 628 acres of Bogahapattiya land for Rs. 6 million. The monk said the timber alone on the land was worth many times more than the sum paid for the land, and hinted that the company Alpha Omega seemed to be having its own way in the deal. At a recent meeting on development in Moneragala, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapakse said the golf course would be vetoed if the Irrigation Department also opposed the project. |
Saturday, September 3, 2011
සමීක්ෂණයට අනුව මෙරට වල්අලි 5879 ක් - වනජීවී ඇමැති කියයි
අනුර බාලසූරිය, ජගත් කනහැරආරච්චි
දීපව්යාප්ත මට්ටමින් පසුගියදා සිදුකරන ලද ප්රථම වල් අලි සමීක්ෂණයට අනුව මෙරට වල් අලින් 5879 ක් සිටින බව වාර්තාවී ඇතැයි ගොවිජනසේවා හා වනජීවී ඇමැති එස්. එම්. චන්ද්රසේන මහතා සඳහන් කළේය. වල් අලි සමීක්ෂණ වාර්තාව ප්රකාශයට පත්කරමින් වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ පැවැති මාධ්ය හමුවේදී ඇමැතිවරයා මේ බව අනාවරණය කළේය. මුළු දිවයිනම ආවරණය වන පරිදි බෙදා තිබෙන වනජීවී කලාප හතේ වෙන් වෙන් වශයෙන් ගත් කල වැඩිම වල් අලි ගහනයක් වාර්තාවන්නේ මහවැලි කලාපයෙනි. එය 1751 ක් බවත් අඩුම අලි ගහනයක් වාර්තාවන්නේ මධ්යම ජීවී කලාපයෙනි. එය 47 ක් බවත් ඇමැතිවරයා සඳහන් කළේය.
නැගෙනහිර වනජීවී කලාපයේ වල් අලි ගහනය 1573 ක් වශයෙනුත් වයඹ 1189 ක් වශයෙනුත් දකුණ 1086 ක් හා උතුර 233 ක් වශයෙන් සමීක්ෂණ ප්රතිඵලවලින් වාර්තාවන බවද ඇමැතිවරයා සඳහන් කළේය.
සමීක්ෂණ වාර්තාවට අනුව සමස්ත වල් අලි ගහනයෙන් 1107 ක් අලි පැටවුන් බවත් 122 ක් දළ ඇතුන් ලෙසත් හඳුනාගැනීමට හැකිවී ඇතැයි හෙතෙම කීවේය.
සමස්ත අලි ගහනයෙන් 1107 ක් පැටවුන් සිටීම ශ්රී ලංකාවේ අලි ඇතුන්ගේ ඉදිරි පැවැත්ම යහපත් බවට සාධකයක් බවත් වල් අලි සංඛ්යාව මෙතරම් ඉහළ අගයක් ගැනීම තුළින් අප රටේ අලි සංරක්ෂණ වැඩපිළිවෙළ ඉතා ඉහළ මට්ටමින් සිදුකෙරෙන බව තහවුරු වන්නක් බවත් සඳහන් කළේය.
ශ්රී ලංකාවේ දීපව්යාප්ත මට්ටමින් සිදුකරන ලද ප්රථම වල්අලි සමීක්ෂණයට වනජීවී නිලධාරීන්, හමුදා නිලධාරීන්, ගම් වැසියන් ඇතුළු 3500 කට ආසන්න නිරීක්ෂකයින් පිරිසක් සහභාගි වූ බවත් නිරීක්ෂණ මධ්යස්ථාන 1553 කදී මෙම සමීක්ෂණ කටයුතු සිදුකෙරුණු බවත් කී ඇමැතිවරයා මෙම සමීක්ෂණයේ ප්රධාන අරමුණ වූයේ වල් අලි සංරක්ෂණය හා කළමනාකරණය සඳහා ඉදිරි ක්රියාමාර්ග ගැනීම පහසුකරලීම බවද පැවැසීය.
සියලු විද්යාත්මක ක්රමවේදයන් භාවිත කර සියයට සීයක් නොවූවත් උපරිම මට්ටමින් නිවැරැදිව මෙම සමීක්ෂණ කටයුතු සිදුකර ඇති බවත් ඉදිරියේදී සවිස්තරාත්මක වාර්තාවක් නිකුත් කරන බවත් සඳහන් කළේය.
වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්යක්ෂ ජනරාල් එම්. ඩී. රත්නායක මහතාද මෙහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ අතර වාර්තාව ප්රකාශයට පත්කිරීමේ අවස්ථාවට ගොවිජනසේවා හා වනජීවී අමාත්යාංශයේ ලේකම් උදේනි වික්රමසිංහ මහතාද එක්විය.
http://www.divaina.com/2011/09/03/news04.html
Lanka has healthy elephant population -survey
Nuwan KODIKARA, Panduka SAMARASEKARA and Tennakoon KULASEKERA
Sri Lanka is endowed with a total number of 5,879 wild elephants according to the elephant census conducted by the Wild Life Department from August 11 to 14. Agrarian Services and Wild Life Minister S M Chandrasena disclosed this at a ceremony held yesterday to release the census report.
Minister Chandrasena said the Mahaweli wild life zone has been identified as the region with the highest density of wild elephants with 1,751 animals while the central wild-life zone is the region with the lowest density of 47 wild elephants.
Minister Chandrasena said according to the latest statistics obtained the number of wild tuskers amounted to 122 and the number of baby elephants is 1107.
The census was carried out through 1553 observation centres country wide assisted by a team of about 3500 personnel including wild life officials, security forces and police personnel, university dons, students, Civil Security Department officials and farmers. According to the data obtained Sri Lanka has a greater number of elephants compared to other countries in Asia and its elephant population is very healthy.
Minister Chandrasena said his ministry would make use of the elephant census results to devise and implement measures to minimize the human - elephant conflict.
Ministry Secretary Udeni Wickremasinghe and Wild Life Director General H G Ratnayake were also present.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/09/03/news15.asp
Elephants: A trumpet for Sri Lanka
By Olindhi Jayasundere The recent island wide elephant census has revealed there are 5,879 elephants in Sri Lanka and this marks the highest density of wild elephants in the Asian continent, Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S.M. Chandrasena said yesterday. According to the census out of a count of 1,107 baby elephants, 122 are tuskers, Wildlife Department Director General H.D. Ratnayake said. |
The statistics showed that the highest number of elephants was concentrated in the Mahaweli region where the presence of 1,751 elephants was recorded. The lowest number of elephants was in the Central region with 47 elephants, 1573 elephants in the eastern region, 1,189 in the north eastern region and 1,086 in the southern region.
The minister said the large number of baby elephants was a further sign of an increasing elephant population in the country. Mr. Ratnayake said the census was also carried out to find ways and means to resolve the human-elephant conflict and ensure their protection and seek new methods on better managing them.
The census was conducted from 1,553 observation points with the participation of 3,500 officials from the Wildlife Department, Army and residents in the areas where the census was conducted and others. The island wide elephant census was conducted from August 11 to 14. The last elephant census was in 1993 which did not cover the North and Eastern Provinces.
The minister said though environmental groups had said the purpose of the elephant census was to hand-pick some 300 elephants for domestication to be sold to temples, this was not so and it would not be permitted.
“We will only permit lone elephants found stranded or selected elephants at the Pinnawala orphanage to be given to temples. No other elephants will be allowed to be domesticated,” he said.
http://print.dailymirror.lk/news/front-page-news/55134.html
Pachyderm Pack
By Charitha Fernando
Sri Lanka finds nearly 6,000 elephants in count
Sep 02, 2011 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's authorities say nearly 6,000 elephants had been found in an island wide census, which was slammed by conservationists as a cover for rulers to identify tusked elephants for capture and domestication.
The count in August has found 5,879 elephants in the Indian Ocean Island of 140 kilometers by 270 kilometers with dwindling forest cover.
H D Ratnayaka, The Director general of Sri Lanka's wildlife department said there could be more elephants.
"There could be around 1000 more," Ratnayaka said "It cannot be a reduction. If at all it has to be an increase in the population."
The census ran into controversy as conservationists pulled out saying Sri Lanka's rulers were using the survey to identify tuskers for capture and show that there were more elephants than an earlier estimate of around 4,000.
"Out of the total wild elephant population 1107 are calves and juveniles," minister of agrarian services and wildlife S M Chandrasena said.
"This is a positive indicator about the growth of the island’s wild elephant population."
Some wildlife experts have expected around 6,000 or more elephants to be found as around 200 to 300 elephants are killed each year by farmers or in accidents amid a growing 'human animal' conflict.
A mortality of more than 2,000 animals a decade pointed to a higher population number, experts have said.
"We are fortunate that a large elephant population is living in Sri Lanka compared to other Asian countries," Chandrasena said.
"The Mahaweli (river valley) region recorded 1751 elephants, the highest in the island.
"The north of the island which could not be accessed earlier because of the war has recorded 233 elephants."
Conservationists pulled out of the census after Chandrasena was quoted as saying last month that 300 elephants would be captured from the wild. Sri Lanka has a tradition for elephants to be used in temples and as status symbols by the traditional aristocracy.
A new trend is for elephants to be kept by some newly rich elected rulers and monks.
Minister Chandrasena told reporters Friday that "few elephants" would be given to the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy and the Devi Nuwara temple in the south to be used for traditional pageants.
"One or two elephants have to be given to the Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth)," he said.
"They will not be used for logging and we will not allow them to be used for commercial activities”
"We hope to give an elephant or two to places of our cultural heritage."
Researchers say tuskers are rare in Sri Lanka as a percentage of the total population. The survey data has found 122 tuskers.
The Wildlife Department said information on elephant range and numbers are vital for the effective conservation and management of elephants in Sri Lanka and to minimize human elephant conflict.
Conservationists and researches argue that the survey data will be useless in managing the elephant population due to flaws in the method adopted to count them.
Ratnayaka said there are concerns whether the island’s forest cover has sufficient capacity to accommodate and sustain elephants.
http://www.lbo.lk/fullstory.php?nid=257628194
Sep 02, 2011 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's authorities say nearly 6,000 elephants had been found in an island wide census, which was slammed by conservationists as a cover for rulers to identify tusked elephants for capture and domestication.
The count in August has found 5,879 elephants in the Indian Ocean Island of 140 kilometers by 270 kilometers with dwindling forest cover.
H D Ratnayaka, The Director general of Sri Lanka's wildlife department said there could be more elephants.
"There could be around 1000 more," Ratnayaka said "It cannot be a reduction. If at all it has to be an increase in the population."
The census ran into controversy as conservationists pulled out saying Sri Lanka's rulers were using the survey to identify tuskers for capture and show that there were more elephants than an earlier estimate of around 4,000.
"Out of the total wild elephant population 1107 are calves and juveniles," minister of agrarian services and wildlife S M Chandrasena said.
"This is a positive indicator about the growth of the island’s wild elephant population."
Some wildlife experts have expected around 6,000 or more elephants to be found as around 200 to 300 elephants are killed each year by farmers or in accidents amid a growing 'human animal' conflict.
A mortality of more than 2,000 animals a decade pointed to a higher population number, experts have said.
"We are fortunate that a large elephant population is living in Sri Lanka compared to other Asian countries," Chandrasena said.
"The Mahaweli (river valley) region recorded 1751 elephants, the highest in the island.
"The north of the island which could not be accessed earlier because of the war has recorded 233 elephants."
Conservationists pulled out of the census after Chandrasena was quoted as saying last month that 300 elephants would be captured from the wild. Sri Lanka has a tradition for elephants to be used in temples and as status symbols by the traditional aristocracy.
A new trend is for elephants to be kept by some newly rich elected rulers and monks.
Minister Chandrasena told reporters Friday that "few elephants" would be given to the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy and the Devi Nuwara temple in the south to be used for traditional pageants.
"One or two elephants have to be given to the Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth)," he said.
"They will not be used for logging and we will not allow them to be used for commercial activities”
"We hope to give an elephant or two to places of our cultural heritage."
Researchers say tuskers are rare in Sri Lanka as a percentage of the total population. The survey data has found 122 tuskers.
The Wildlife Department said information on elephant range and numbers are vital for the effective conservation and management of elephants in Sri Lanka and to minimize human elephant conflict.
Conservationists and researches argue that the survey data will be useless in managing the elephant population due to flaws in the method adopted to count them.
Ratnayaka said there are concerns whether the island’s forest cover has sufficient capacity to accommodate and sustain elephants.
http://www.lbo.lk/fullstory.php?nid=257628194
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Elephant survey results on Friday
The results of the first countrywide elephant survey will be released on Friday, a Wildlife Conservation Department (WCD) spokesman told the Daily News yesterday.
He said that the expert panel has now completed preliminary data analysis and the data will be officially announced to the public by Wild Life and Agrarian Services Minister S M Chandrasena and WCD Director General H D Ratnayake at a press conference at the Department premises. He said that the results will be presented in a concise manner.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/09/01/news34.asp
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