Sri Lanka jails keeper in first elephant trafficking case

Colombo: Sri Lanka's High Court sentenced an elephant keeper to 15 years in prison on Friday, in a landmark case involving trafficking of wildlife protected by strict environmental laws.

The three-judge court in Colombo found Niraj Roshan guilty on two counts of keeping a stolen baby elephant and falsifying records to show he had obtained it legitimately.

The verdict, which includes a fine equivalent to $68,600 and the elephant's confiscation, comes six years after the case first went to court.

"This is the first case of elephant trafficking filed in a Sri Lankan court," a state prosecutor told the court, urging a deterrent sentence to discourage similar behaviour.

Seven other suspects were cleared during the course of the trial due to lack of evidence.

When the case was filed, wildlife experts estimated that about 40 baby elephants had been stolen from their herds over a decade, and sold for around $125,000 each.

The practice largely stopped when a new government took office in 2015 and launched a crackdown.

However, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who served briefly as president from 2019, had several other elephant theft cases dropped.

But the charges against Roshan proceeded.

Rajapaksa himself kept two baby elephants at his official residence when he served in his elder brother's administration from 2005 to 2015.

Among Sri Lanka's super-rich, owning a baby elephant is considered the ultimate status symbol, and the animals were traditionally kept by aristocrats.

They continue to be paraded at temple festivals.

The illegal trade in calves has been blamed for a decline in Sri Lanka's elephant population, with conservationists noting that mothers are often killed so their young can be captured.

Escalating human-elephant conflict has also claimed around 400 elephants and 200 human lives annually over the past five years.

Sri Lanka has an estimated 7,000 wild elephants -- considered a national treasure, partly due to their significance in Buddhist culture.