The Court of Appeal has granted writs of mandamus directing state authorities to take specific steps to stop wild elephants being killed by trains, the Daily Mirror reported on 9 October.
The judgment was delivered by Judge Dr D. F. H. Gunawardhana on 10 September 2026 in CA (Writ) Applications Nos. 318/2025 and 319/2025 — a month before the reporting of it.
What the court ordered
The Director-General of Wildlife Conservation was directed to prepare and implement national and management plans addressing wildlife deaths caused by infrastructure and related human activity.
The General Manager of Sri Lanka Railways was directed to report to court on the training given to locomotive pilots and guards, including simulator-based training; on the regulation of train speeds at identified elephant crossings; and on other collision-mitigation measures adopted. The directions extend to disciplinary action against crew who breach prescribed norms.
The court fixed the matter for review after three months.
The case behind it
The applications followed a collision between the Batticaloa–Colombo “Meenagaya” express and a herd, in which seven elephants died. The case numbers indicate both applications were filed in 2025.
According to the Daily Mirror, one application named “Elephant X” — an elephant that survived the collision — as its second petitioner, represented by the Centre for Eco-Cultural Studies acting as the animal’s next friend. The petitioners relied in part on Daily Mirror and Sunday Times reporting of repeated elephant deaths on the railway.
The ruling lands alongside an executive-branch effort this desk reported last month, when a public-private memorandum put three-beam detection sensors and in-cab alerts at 13 high-risk railway locations.
Not reported
The report does not name the respondents beyond their offices, give the date of the Meenagaya collision, or say what the Department of Wildlife Conservation or Sri Lanka Railways told the court. It does not explain the month between judgment and publication, or state how many elephants have been killed on the railway to date. No comment from either authority is carried.
