A meeting was held today (15) at the Ministry of Environment with officials from the Department of Wildlife Conservation, aimed at tightening laws against the shooting of wild elephants.

The discussion was chaired by the Minister of Environment, Dr. Dammika Patabendi, along with the Deputy Minister of Environment, Anton Jayakody.

Incidents involving the shooting of wild elephants are regularly reported to the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Therefore, the Minister instructed the Director General of the Department to take the necessary steps to strictly enforce the law against such acts.

The discussion also focused on strengthening the process of punishing offenders by updating laws related to the killing of wild animals. It also emphasized enforcing strict laws against the illegal construction of electric fences on private lands, which often harm elephants.

To help reduce human-elephant conflict, the Ministry and the Department are working together on long-term, positive solutions. Accordingly, elephant fences are being built in districts with frequent elephant encounters.

Furthermore, multi-purpose officers have been recruited for the maintenance of these fences. Additionally, the involvement of civil defense personnel is being considered to further reduce incidents of wild elephant shootings.

The Department of Wildlife Conservation announced that a special media briefing will be held in the coming days to inform the public about these initiatives.