The law does not apply in this country
Attorney-at-Law and conservationist Jagath Gunawardena says the existing laws are more than enough to protect elephants if they are properly enforced.
He points out Section 22A of the Flora and Fauna Act.
“In the event of a pregnancy of a registered she-elephant, the owner or the person having the custody of such she-elephant shall inform the Director General of such pregnancy together with details of the sire.”
“It shall be the duty of the owner or the person having custody of a registered she-elephant to inform the Director-General or any authorised officer of the fact of any birth, miscarriage or stillbirth of elephants within seven days of the date of the occurrence of any of the said events.”
“Where any registered elephant dies, the owner or the person having custody of such elephant shall report such death to the DirectorGeneral, before the remains are destroyed”.
“Any elephant which has not been registered under this section shall be presumed to be taken or removed from the wild without lawful authority or approval and such elephants shall be deemed to be public property. The provisions of Offences against Public Property Act, No. 12 of 1982 shall accordingly apply in respect of such elephants.”
Pointing out the provisions Gunawardena said there was no room for any smuggler to escape. But unfortunately the law does not operate in the country.
“These provisions are strong - if operated they are more than enough to bring the smugglers to the law. But it is clear that the law does not operate in the country,” he said. As per the law in 1992, all elephants registered. Any elephant being registered thereafter must have a surcharge added. If there are baby elephants there have to be records somewhere.
He said there were enough incidents to prove that elephant smugglers got away due to negligence of the officials.
“These smugglers know if they produce some pieces of paper they can easily get a licence. There would not be many elephant owners if the documents were checked,” he said.