President of the Sri Lanka Janatha Workers’ Front, Chamira Perera, has alleged that the government is secretly plotting to eliminate the wild elephant population in the country as a shortcut to addressing the human-elephant conflict.
Perera made this claim during a media brefing in Hatton, emphasizing that approximately four elephants are being killed daily, with 38 wild elephants having been slain in the past eleven days alone.
He asserted that the ongoing killing of wild elephants appears to be well-coordinated by the government. Perera cited an incident in which a Civil Security Department officer shot a domesticated elephant during the Mahiyangana Perehera, justifying it by claiming to have mistaken it for a wild elephant.
According to Perera, this incident is indicative of a pattern where officers have been instructed to target wild elephants. He clarified that the perpetrators are not civilians but individuals provided with firearms and ammunition.
Furthermore, he accused the government of attempting to deceive the public by attributing the killing of wild elephants to NGOs and organizations opposing the use of elephants in Pereheras.
