Sri Lanka: Elephants to Work Less

In this predominantly Buddhist island nation in the Indian Ocean, elephants are considered bringers of good fortune for their owners and a symbol of old money.

Yet around 180 elephants live in captivity in Sri Lanka — at Buddhist temples, with wealthy businesspeople, influential politicians, and in state-run elephant parks. They are made to work under conditions that animal welfare advocates repeatedly criticize. They must carry Buddha's relics at religious festivals and walk adorned through large crowds. They also have to haul heavy logs and carry many people, bathe with tourists, or allow tourists to feed them. ADVERTISEMENT

No More Than Four Hours

Now the government wants to improve their working conditions. Parliament is expected to formally approve the following legislative amendments in the coming weeks: an elephant should only have to carry logs or people for four consecutive hours at a time — and only during the day and in good weather; no more than four people should be allowed to ride on its back simultaneously; and it should be transported in a vehicle for no more than 12 hours at a speed of no more than 30 km/h. Elephant handlers must only work sober and are required to complete appropriate training.

But is this really about the welfare of elephants? Many animal welfare advocates in the country are not happy with these rules — they are filled with concern. They are convinced that the government is merely using them as a pretext to domesticate more elephants, as Hemantha Withanage, head of the Centre for Environmental Justice, states. Animal welfare advocates also fear that elephants will continue to work under difficult conditions despite the supposedly animal-friendly regulations. 

They also see a connection between the new rules and a politically sensitive issue: under the previous government, Sri Lanka's wildlife authority confiscated 38 elephants between 2015 and 2018 that were allegedly captured illegally in the wild. The owners of these animals are among the most influential people in the country, and most of them support the current government. These individuals want their elephants back — animals that are currently living in state-run elephant parks. 

Brutal Methods

Should this happen, Panchali Panapitiya of the organization Rally for Animal Rights & Environment fears that the owners may use extreme force to train the large wild animals into submission. Brutal training methods like those known from Thailand or India are also used on the island nation: young animals are confined for extended periods in small enclosures where they can barely move, water and food are periodically withheld, and they are beaten and chained. Only in this way, it is believed, can people ensure that the animals offer no resistance. 

The return of the elephants is important for preserving the tradition of Buddhist elephant processions, said the secretary of the Elephant Owners' Association of Sri Lanka, Dhamsiri Bandara Karunaratna. So far, the owners have achieved partial success: a court recently ordered that 14 of the 38 animals be returned to them.

Destroyed Habitat

The owners would, however, generally like to have more elephants in order to breed even more. Buddhist monk and president of the Association of Tamed Elephants, Magalkande Sudhantha, is thus calling on the government to capture wild elephants and sell them. In his view, animals that cause harm to people could be captured — a measure that, he argues, could also help resolve another problem facing the country.

People are increasingly settling in the animals' habitat. As a result, elephants are destroying more and more fields and homes, prompting their owners to take revenge on the animals, killing them with firecrackers, poison, or gunshots. In the first half of 2021, official figures show that 172 elephants and 65 people died as a result. Conflicts between humans and the country's elephants — estimated at between 2,500 and 6,000 endangered individuals — have become an election campaign issue, though politicians have yet to find an effective solution.

Elephants are likely to remain a sensitive issue for the government, affecting most of its voters. The existence of these wild animals is under threat, and killing elephants carries the death penalty. Yet elephants themselves also threaten the livelihoods of poor farmers. And the country's elite wants to own more and more of them. Whether the new rules will help captive elephants remains to be seen.