Photo of zoo in Pakistan by Scott Christian
Protests in Sri Lanka about the increasing threat of attack by elephants have unleashed a wave of unrelated phenomena across the continent, culminating in a new opening for American military deliveries, regional news services say.
Farmers in Sri Lanka -- like Afghanistan, in Asia -- rallied against over-development which was encroaching on breeding and foraging lands and angering the large animals, UCA reports.
Forty-six people have been killed in the past few months, according to data compiled by the Wildlife Department, and 97 elephants have been shot and killed.
“The government should find ways … to solve this man-elephant conflict, particularly during the dry season, when elephants rampage through villages in search of water and food,” said Ranjith Jayakody, secretary of the Irudeniyaya Farmers’ Organization in Kurunegala.
Meanwhile, four elephant calves — aged 4-7 years and housed at the Karachi Zoological Gardens and Safari Park — have not been provided with proper enclosures since their arrival in the city more than two years ago, Pakistan's The Dawn reported.
Yet the lack of proper barriers has actually provided an opening for NATO, defense officials who requested anonymity told DS.
Pakistan expects to re-open supply routes to NATO forces in Afghanistan, halted after a NATO cross-border air attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November, but will impose tariffs, a senior security official told Reuters on Thursday.
The official said there was still some way to go "before normalcy was possible," said Reuters.
The staff at the elephant house told Dawn that the elephants were not united because they could hurt each other.
Experts regard the provision of comfortable temperatures, places to relax outdoors, opportunities for long walks, abundance of different types of exercises, mud wallowing and swimming areas and pasture as critical facets for elephant enclosures. They say such facilities should be available to elephants round the year.
Colombo is separated from Islamabad by 2,598 of earth, maps.google.com reported.
