The government is to formalise ‘Hasthi Sena’, the joint military and wildlife operation launched last week to protect elephants and reduce human-elephant conflict, by submitting a Cabinet memorandum seeking a policy and legal framework for it.
The decision followed a special discussion at the Ministry of Environment, the Daily Mirror reported. The meeting was chaired by Deputy Environment Minister Anton Jayakody, with the Ministry Secretary and senior Tri-Forces officers involved in the operation attending.
What the framework would cover
Discussions focused on expanding the operation and strengthening protection for elephants judged most at risk — particularly vulnerable tuskers and breeding herds moving through high-risk wildlife corridors and migration routes.
It was proposed that specialised military protection teams be deployed to monitor and escort solitary tuskers and elephant herds in vulnerable areas. That would move the operation from patrolling and clearing hazards towards the continuous protection of identified individual animals.
The meeting also pressed for intensified action against wildlife crime, specifically the manufacture, distribution and use of the illegal weapons and traps used to kill or injure elephants. Intelligence-led raids are to target hakka patas — jaw-exploding devices hidden in bait — along with trap guns and illegal firearms.
Why it matters
Hasthi Sena has operated so far as a joint undertaking of the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Tri-Forces without a dedicated statutory basis. Putting it before Cabinet would settle questions a deployment of this kind raises in practice: what powers soldiers have in wildlife areas, how long the operation runs, and who funds and commands it.
The operation was launched on 2 November and has since reported seizing snares at Namal Uyana and inspecting electric fences in the Kala Wewa North range.
Not reported
The filing does not say when the Cabinet memorandum will be submitted, which minister will present it, what legal instrument is envisaged, or whether the framework would require new legislation or operate under existing wildlife and defence powers. No budget, troop numbers or operational end-date are given, and there is no indication of how the proposed escort teams would be resourced alongside the Tri-Forces’ existing duties.
The Daily Mirror dates the Ministry of Environment discussion as “yesterday (9)” — an internal inconsistency, since the report itself was published on 9 November. The meeting therefore took place on either 8 or 9 November; the filing does not resolve which.
This report rests on a single verified newsroom. No other outlet checked had published its own account of the Cabinet memorandum at the time of writing.
