A conservation organisation has named 13 wild elephants it says need urgent protection, with the tusker Agbo among those requiring the most critical attention, and has called for the security forces to be involved in safeguarding them.
Wild Tuskers of Sri Lanka set out the list at a press conference in Colombo, the Daily Mirror reported on Thursday morning.
Chief Organiser Chandika Lakmal singled out two animals:
“Agbo is one of the elephants requiring the most critical attention. Another elephant, known as Wasala, is also living in a situation that demands intense focus. We are paying special attention to him as well.”
The thirteen
Alongside Agbo and Wasala, the organisation named Mahanama, Bundala Kashyapa, Suranimala, Sumedha, Surya, Maha, Mahasena, Deegabhaya, Gajabahu and Wanniyan.
Lakmal said the elephants’ habitats and behaviour make the involvement of the security forces essential to their protection, and urged the authorities to act immediately.
This answers a question this desk had left open
On 18 October the Environment Ministry sent the military to locate the tusker Agbo and, in the ministry’s words, “ensure his safety completely” — a deployment that came 44 minutes after a separate written request to the Inspector General of Police asking whether an organised group was killing wild elephants.
This desk recorded at the time that no filing said whether the Agbo search was precautionary or responsive, and flagged it as the unanswered question.
Thursday’s press conference does not answer it from the government’s side, but it establishes that Agbo is regarded by conservationists tracking him as being at critical risk — and that the call for armed protection of specific named animals is now a public demand, not only an internal ministry decision.
A disputed remark about Kavantissa
Lakmal also objected to a comment attributed to the Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation after the death of the tusker Kavantissa on 16 October. According to Lakmal, the official questioned whether 45 years of looking after the elephant was sufficient — a statement that was subsequently retracted.
“We strongly disagree with this statement. If such a view is adopted, we will not be able to protect even the elephants that remain.”
This desk has previously covered the Wildlife Director General’s comments on elephant density in the aftermath of Kavantissa’s death.
Not reported
- The Daily Mirror does not say what specific threat each of the 13 elephants faces, or where they range.
- It does not report any response from the Department of Wildlife Conservation or the Environment Ministry to the organisation’s demands.
- It does not say whether the 13 include elephants already under any form of official protection, such as Agbo.
- Single-sourced. A search of NewsFirst, the Island, Daily News, Colombo Gazette, Daily FT and Hiru found no other verified newsroom reporting this press conference at the time of writing. Ada Derana could not be checked — its site has returned HTTP 403 to this desk for 34 consecutive days.