The Dehiattakandiya Magistrate’s Court has fined two individuals Rs. 40,000 each for feeding wild elephants, including two calves, inside the Maduru Oya National Park, the Department of Wildlife Conservation said on Friday.
The conviction follows an April investigation by wildlife officers attached to the Henanigala Park Entrance Office after several people were observed offering food items to elephants — including two calves — for entertainment, according to a department statement carried by Newswire. Wildlife officers filed charges against five individuals before the Dehiattakandiya Magistrate’s Court on April 24. The court on Thursday (18) convicted two of the accused and imposed fines totalling Rs. 80,000.
Feeding wild elephants is prohibited under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance because it conditions animals to associate humans with food, raising the risk of confrontations and habituated behaviour that can lead to the wider human-elephant conflict the government has been trying to contain through a new national action plan and a 1,500-officer fence deployment.
The Dehiattakandiya conviction is the first prosecution under wildlife laws specifically for elephant feeding inside Maduru Oya that we have covered, distinct from a separate separate incident at the same park in which an army soldier died after a wall collapse. Maduru Oya, a 588 square-kilometre dry-zone reserve straddling the Polonnaruwa and Ampara districts, is one of Sri Lanka’s most established elephant corridors and a popular safari destination.
The Department of Wildlife Conservation did not announce a separate appeal or whether the three remaining accused face further proceedings.
