Key sentence:
- At a recent COPA conference, it was also revealed that Sri Lanka ranked number two worldwide after India.
- The number of people killed in the nation has also risen from an average of 85 people to 122 a year.
- National Coordinating Committee from all relevant institutions to minimize the conflict between humans and elephants.
- While Rs 86, million rupees are spent annually on electric fence maintenance.
According to a media report, Sri Lanka has reported the world’s highest number of elephant deaths due to the human conflict.
An Audit by COPA:
The Committee on Public Accounts of the Island Nation (COPA) directed the renowned elephant specialist Dr Prithviraj Fernando, head of the Centre for Conservation and Science, to conduct a special audit into the human-elephant dispute.
According to the Daily News, at a recent COPA conference, it was also revealed that Sri Lanka ranked number two worldwide after India, where the highest number of human deaths were recorded due to the human-elephant conflict.
As per Tissa Vitarana report:
The Chairman of the COPE Committee, Tissa Vitarana, reported that the number of elephants killed in conflict with humans in Sri Lanka in the past 12 months had been 407, compared to the previous annual average of 272. The number of people killed in the nation has also risen from an average of 85 people to 122 a year.
Chairman Vitarana of the COPE Committee, as well as other members, stressed the need for the Wildlife Department and other related agencies to work together on a more effective human-elephant conflict resolution program in Sri Lanka, which is now a serious issue.
He also said that no substantial progress had been made despite 60 years of attempts to settle the human-elephant dispute and that a new strategy was needed to come up with a solution.
The COPA to set up a National Coordinating Committee:
The COPA directed the Department of Wildlife Conservation to create, as soon as possible, a National Coordinating Committee from all relevant institutions to minimize the conflict between humans and elephants.
The Committee pointed out that while 4,211 km of elephant fences had already been installed to manage the human-elephant conflict by 2016, due to insufficient maintenance, they had become inactive within a short period of time.
Rs 86 million spent for Electric fence:
While Rs 86 million rupees are spent annually on electric fence maintenance; the committee highlighted the need for the Department of Wildlife Conservation to track whether such maintenance is being carried out on a daily basis, the daily stated.
The committee also found out that with the help of the people, this maintenance should be accomplished.
The Committee also addressed that due to protests by citizens in some areas who felt that the building of the fence was a boundary of their property, many buildings had to be halted.
