Leading up to 2015 the capturing of wild baby elephants for use in cultural pageants known as a 'perahera' was rife in Sri Lanka. Neither temples, powerful businessmen nor politicians cared where these babies came from, how they had been captured (often involving the killing of herd members protecting them) or the fact that these elephants were illegally caught just so long as they got their hands on baby elephants to inflate their own oversized ego’s!

In 2015 under pressure from NGO’s and activists the government of the time ordered a crackdown and the surviving (many died) illegally caught and held elephant calves were seized. An individual at the centre of the smuggling ring known as ‘Ali Roshan’ was also arrested and charged.

The seized calves have since been held at government facilities at Pinnawala and ETH Udawalawa

Fast forward to 2021 and the current government have dropped charges against ‘Ali Roshan’ now a free man on a ‘technicality’?? The temples are now demanding 60 more elephants for use in the perahera and the government is preparing to return the seized elephants to their captors …The thieves that stole them are being rewarded!

Elephants that are used in the perahera undergo brutal training when they are tortured into submitting to man’s demands, followed by a miserable deprived existence in chains, this aside what message is sent if poachers are rewarded? This could and likely will lead to a ‘free for all’ on “Sri Lanka’s wild elephants who are already suffering, and their numbers depleting rapidly.

As a modern forward-thinking nation, Sri Lanka should be looking to eliminate the use of animals for human entertainment not expand on this!

We demand that the government of Sri Lanka does NOT gift nor sell any further elephants to temples or private individuals and further that no government held elephants are used in perahera's or other events.