Lessons to be learnt from death of Bhathiya, the wild elephant

ON 15 July, the wild elephant known as Bhathiya succumbed to multiple injuries it had sustained in the wild. It had been shot at and wounded in early May. During early July, its injuries had worsened, and it had been treated by wildlife department veterinarians.

- By Srilal Miththapala

During this time, there was a media frenzy going on, with politicians 'basking' in the suffering that the poor animal was going through, armchair elephant SM experts giving advice and updates, and the wildlife officials scrambling to do damage control. It was almost like a choreographed social media performance that was being staged to a pathetic, gullible public, who were lapping up what was dished out with great interest.

The earth had hardly received the body of this gentle giant when social media began overflowing with emotional, knee-jerk, grandiose rhetoric. Slogans of 'Return their land to them' and 'Save the Elephants' resonate, and petitions are being prepared. The pathetic response from the 'wise men' in the Government is to bring more legislation - 19 new protected areas, 'tightening' laws related to shooting of elephants, new laws about setting up illegal electric fences, setting up an elephant hospital, etc.

Why can't everyone understand that the problem is in the implementation, not in the legislation?

In Sri Lanka, killing (or injuring/harming) a wild elephant is explicitly classified as a non-bailable offence under the Fauna and Flora Protection (Amendment) Act, No. 22 of 2009. Here's what the law states: Any offence involving an elephant under this act — including using electric wire or other devices to kill, injure an elephant — is punishable by a high fine and/or imprisonment.

"The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves,"

—Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II

Mark my words: in a few months, Bhathiya will be forgotten, and the media will move, like vultures, to another 'carcass' to feed on.

That is why we need to take a deeper look into the events that led to this magnificent animal's death and what we can learn from it. What is required is not emotional outbursts but pragmatic solutions that can be quickly implemented to somehow mitigate this carnage.