Leave animals alone!

Monday 18th October, 2021

A move to set up a zoo on a 72-acre land (in Piliyandala), which has been allocated for the construction of a veterinary hospital, and a factory to manufacture food for zoo animals, has incensed the Dehiwala zoological gardens workers. The protesters have blamed Minister of Power Gamini Lokuge for the controversial zoo project, and warned of trade union action if he is allowed to have his way. They are reported to have made representations to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in this regard. Lokuge’s response to the zoo workers’ protests was not known at the time of writing.

Minister Lokuge is one of the senior politicians who have, to borrow a one-liner from Bob Hope, reached ages when candles cost them more than their birthday cakes. It is high time they concentrated on meritorious deeds more than anything else, and showed some compassion towards dumb animals whose rights must be safeguarded. Lokuge and other government worthies ought to heed what Arahat Mahinda told King Devanampiyatissa: “King, you are only a custodian of this land held in trust. Not only human beings but also wild animals and birds have the right to move freely in this land.”

It may be recalled that Minister Lokuge made a song and dance when the Kesbewa public health officials imposed travel restrictions in the Piliyandala area, which had become a Covid-19 hotspot, a few moons ago. He had their decision reversed immediately and the area reopened because he did not want his supporters’ movements restricted in his electorate. But he wants hundreds of animals held in a prison for life in the same electorate.

A zoo is an animal prison, which should have no place in the civilised world. Animals must be allowed to live in their natural habitats free from human interference. Human interventions are permissible only when they are aimed at saving animals in danger. Many species are endangered because humans destroy their habitats such as forests depriving them of food and water. This is the main reason for the human-elephant conflict in this country. When the affected wild animals invade human settlements in search of food and water they are killed. The incumbent government seems to have a problem with animal habitats, especially forests. We have recently reported, quoting a senior environmentalist, that the government has decided to hand over 6% of the land in the Anuradhapura District to a private company for cultivating Aloe Vera. This deal is bound to worsen the human-elephant conflict in the area.

There are other reasons for wild animal invasions, we pointed out in a previous comment, quoting Dr. Nishan Sakalasooriya of the University of Kelaniya, who has said that the prolonged neglect of forest tanks or kuluwew built for special purposes such as storing rainwater, enriching groundwater level, providing water for wild animals, maintaining the food chain, etc., has caused the problem of wild elephants, monkeys, porcupines, giant squirrels and wild boar invading village ecosystems and threatening the settlers in an unprecedented manner. Insects, rats and snakes also enter residential and farming areas as a result, he has said, concluding that if the kuluwew are renovated systematically and forest ecosystems restored, the wild animal threat can be reduced by about 80 percent. Instead of doing so, the government is alienating forest land for plantations and encouraging its henchmen to encroach on animal habitats.

When a human is wrongfully detained, there erupt protests, and rightly so; fundamental rights petitions are filed, and street demonstrations held to pressure the state to release the victim. But the rights of animals are taken for granted; thousands of them are held in ‘prions’ in this country, but no action is taken against the perpetrators.

The practice of animals being used as exhibits must be discontinued. They are not there to be kept in cages or in ‘open prisons’ for people to have the pleasure of viewing. They must be able to live freely in forests and other such habitats where they belong.

As for the Piliyandala land, where Lokuge reportedly wants animals imprisoned, we have a suggestion; an open-air prison should be set up there for the politicians who abuse their power to commit various crimes, steal public assets, and have become a threat to society.