Illegal capture and internal trade of wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The illegal wildlife trade is considered one of the major threats to global biodiversity. Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) have been highly valued by various cultures for use in religious and spiritual contexts, as a draft animal, and more recently, as a tourist attraction. Thus, the demand for captive elephants is high. Wild Asian elephants are taken from the wild, often illegally, to maintain these captive populations due to the unviability of captive breeding programs. For the first time, we documented the extent to which wild elephants are being illegally captured and traded in Sri Lanka between January 2008 and December 2018. We collected data from case records maintained by the Sri Lanka court system where the suspects of illegal elephant trade were prosecuted in addition to information gathered by archives and interviews with various stakeholders. We documented 55 cases where elephants were illegally traded. This is probably an underestimate due to the mortality rate of elephants during capture operations, and challenges in collecting data on this highly organized illicit trade. Nearly equal numbers of male and female elephants were traded and more than 50% of them were juveniles, aged ≤5 years. Significantly more elephants were found to be seized in 2014–2015 than in the other time periods combined. We found evidence of the illegal capture of wild elephants from wildlife protected areas and state forests. More importantly, we identified evidence of corruption of wildlife officers, involvement of politicians and other high-ranking personnel in the illegal wildlife trade, and lack of active enforcement of wildlife law as major challenges to overcome if the illegal capture and domestic trade of wild elephants in Sri Lanka are to be halted. Based on our study, we make a series of recommendations that should result in implementing policy to reduce the trafficking of Asian elephants in Sri Lanka and improve the conservation management of the species.

Anthropogenic interferences lead to gut microbiome dysbiosis in Asian elephants and may alter adaptation processes to surrounding environments

“…Although the capture of wild elephants was banned in Myanmar in 1990, illegal capturing has continued until now 18 . In the 1990s, approximately 100 wild elephants were illegally exported from Myanmar every year 34 . In addition, about 21% of all Asian elephants in Europe were obtained from timber camps in Asia and about 60% are captured from the wild 35 .…”

Human–Elephant Conflict in Sri Lanka: A Critical Review of Causal Explanations

“…The historical political economy and commodity chains that drove poaching in Sri Lanka at the time of the civil war [35] have dried up. However, new findings [39] have highlighted the increase in illegal captures and the live elephant trade, which has the potential to create problems for elephant conservation. Still, poaching does not appear to be a main concern in the Sri Lankan context.…”

“…In 2016, Sri Lanka destroyed all stockpiled ivory in the country captured through the seizure of one single illegal shipment from East Africa; the destruction of 1.5 tons of ivory was accompanied by a Buddhist ceremony [38]. Recent insights highlight the importance of the commercial capturing of living individuals, especially baby elephants, for trade purposes [39].…”

Can Humans and Elephants Coexist? A Review of the Conflict on Sumatra Island, Indonesia

“…However, nowadays, natural resource utilization is not only for basic needs but also for economic purposes that cause over-exploitation and reduce food resources for elephants [113,120]. Other activities that have direct impacts on elephants are poaching and illegal ivory trade [42,43,121].…”