Special Army units are to be deployed along elephant migration routes in high-risk areas, and a Cabinet memorandum will be submitted to give the Hasthi Sena operation a formal policy and legal framework, Environment Ministry officials said after a meeting on Monday.
The meeting at the Ministry of Environment was chaired by Deputy Minister of Environment Anton Jayakody. The Ministry Secretary and senior officers of the three armed forces took part.
Attention was focused on deploying protection units along routes used by solitary tuskers and by herds with calves. Plans were also discussed for continuous monitoring of elephants in high-risk migration zones and the surrounding ecosystems.
The meeting also looked at strengthening intelligence-led operations against wildlife crime, including the manufacture, distribution and use of hakka patas (explosive bait), trap guns and illegal firearms. Authorities discussed targeted raids to dismantle the networks involved.
The Hasthi Sena operation is conducted jointly by the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the three armed forces. It aims to protect the country’s wild elephants and to address the growing human-elephant conflict.
Background
Human-elephant conflict is a long-running problem in Sri Lanka. Elephants enter farmland and villages, damaging crops and homes, and people living near forest edges are sometimes killed. Elephants themselves are also killed, including by explosive bait, which is an illegal device.
Hakka patas are explosive devices hidden in food that injure an elephant’s mouth when it bites. Trap guns and illegal firearms are also used against elephants, and the officials who met on Monday listed all three as targets for the planned raids.
The Department of Wildlife Conservation is the state agency responsible for wild elephants. Hasthi Sena is a joint operation with the armed forces that is already under way, and the Cabinet memorandum would move it from an operation into a structured framework.
What it means
For villagers in areas where elephants roam, the plan points to a stronger military presence along migration routes and closer monitoring of herds. Officials did not say on Monday which districts would receive the first units or when the deployments would begin.
A legal framework would set out how the operation runs and who is responsible for it. The Cabinet will have to approve the memorandum once it is submitted before that can take effect.
