by Saman Indrajith
Wildlife conservation Minister Wijith Wijayamuni Zoysa told Parliament yesterday that an elephant selling racket and a massive gene-piracy cartel were operating in the country.
"This morning, too, we seized a jumbo kept in a house on my instructions. There is a racket of persons selling jumbos to private owners. It is illegal to rear baby elephants without licences. We request the public to provide us with information of any such moves so that we could take action," the minister said.
When the minister said this, Anuradhapura District UNP MP P. Harrison said that he had information of five such places and read out the names of those who were rearing baby elephants without licences.
Among the persons who are keeping elephants illegally is a Maginstrate. Providing a list of the culprits, he challenged Minister Zoysa to take action against them and secure the relase of the animals.
Minister Zoysa: "None including judges could keep elephants without a licence. We will capture all the jumbos being kept illegally within the next couple of weeks."
Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa: "You should have provided the information secretly. Now there is a possibility of the animals being shifted elsewhere.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=102959
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