Feeding and encouraging elephants to beg on the road in Sri Lanka is vandalism committed on our wildlife!

Decades ago in Sri Lanka to encounter wild elephants on the road was an exciting and exhilarating experience. Vehicles would park at a respectful distance and watch the elephants in silence until the elephants gradually moved away from the road. It would be a rare person who would be brave enough to drive past the elephants in a car that could barely reach 20 miles/hour on those roads at the time.

Fast forward to now and the elephants on the road have become mere caricatures and an insult to their long ago majestic and awe inspiring cousins. Until a few years ago the begging elephants were almost bulls. Now even female elephants and their young have taken to begging on the roads.

There is no doubt that eventually entire herds will get used to this demeaning and disgraceful habit. Herds are already getting habituated to face such a situation. Garbage dumps which were always visited by bull elephants are now attracting herds with young calves as well. Once they get used to eating garbage it is just a small step to wait by the roadside for hand outs from vehicles. And it has started to happen.

Unprincipled people who are indulging in this shameful activity are basically vandalizing the wild essence and spirit of the wilderness and the wildlife of Sri Lanka. The Department of Wildlife Conservation must come up with a concise management plan and with the help of the police and military forces implement disciplinary actions to stop these vandals from destroying the wilderness and the wildlife of our country. A strict set of huge fines and penalties on the drivers of these vehicles will soon put a stop to such vandalism.

We need to take action now to stop this vandalizing of our wild. Please write to the government officials listed below asking them to take steps to immediately stop this disgracing of a majestic animal and turning it into a derelict symbol of our wildlife. Share this post and encourage as many people to campaign to get this feeding of wild animals by the roadside stopped immediately.

Let's request these officials to make feeding any wild animal that is not in need of succor legally categorized as vandalism and efforts made to punish severely the drivers of these vehicles. Otherwise, wild animals begging for food by the roadside could end up being the only wildlife experience and spectacle left in Sri Lanka for wildlife lovers traveling on our roads.

His Excellency President Maithripala Sirisena
President of Sri Lanka
Minister for Environment
Presidential Secretariat
Galle Face
Colombo 01
Sri Lanka
Phone: +94 112 354 354
Email: ps@presidentsoffice.lk
Tweets by ‎@MaithripalaS

Honorable Ajith Mannapperuma
State Minister for Mahaweli Development & Environment
Ministry of Mahaweli Development & Environment
"Sobadam Piyasa"
416/C/1, Robert Gunawardana Mawatha
Battaramulla
Sri Lanka
Telephone: +94-33-223-6372, +94-11-268-8749-5
Email: ajith2200@gmail.com

Honorable Ranil Wickremasinghe
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
Prime Minister's Office
No: 58, Sir Ernest De Silva Mawatha,
Colombo 07.
Sri Lanka.
+94 (112) 575317/18
+94 (112) 370737/38
Email: info@pmoffice.gov.lk

Fax: +94 (112) 575310
Fax: +94 (112) 574143

Honorable John Amaratunga
Minister for Wildlife
811/A Jayanthipura Main Rd
Battaramulla 10120
Sri Lanka
Contact Numbers:
Mobile: +94 777489999.
Phone: +94 11 234 1066, +94-11-204-5700.
Fax: +94 11 2382218
Email: info@msdw.gov.lk

Chandana Sooriyabandara
Director General
Department of Wildlife Conservation
811/A Jayanthipura Main Rd
Battaramulla 10120
Sri Lanka
Phone: +94-11-288-8585
Email: dg@dwc.gov.lk & csooriyabandara@gmail.com

Anura Dissanayake
Secretary
Ministry of Mahaweli Development & Environment
Sri Lanka
"Sobadam Piyasa"
416/C/1, Robert Gunawardana Mawatha
Battaramulla
Sri Lanka
Telephone – 0112676844
Email: sec@mahaweli.gov.lk

Anura Sathurusinghe
Conservator General
Forest Department
Sampath Paya
82 Rajamalwate Rd
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte 10120
Sri Lanka
Phone: +94-11-286-6616
Email: cgfsoffice@gmail.com

Big, rumbling thanks to our Corporate Partners for their kind support and to everyone who has donated and supported our wildlife conservation efforts!
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Photo Credits:

Chandima Fernando/SLWCS
Ravi Corea/SLWCS
Internet Public Domain