Cow elephant ‘Sujeewa,’ calf continue to remain with Wildlife Department

The Cow elephant named ‘Sujeewa’ and her calf will remain under the custody of the Department of Wildlife Conservation until it submits recommendations regarding their release, Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court observed yesterday.

‘Sujeewa’ is one of 14 tamed elephants recently ordered to be released to their original claimants.

Environmental organisations including the Centre for Environmental Justice raised objections against the release of this mother and baby elephant. However, the Criminal Investigations Department did not raise objections to release these elephants to the claimants.

Accordingly, Colombo Additional

Magistrate T.J. Prabhakaran refrained from issuing an order releasing ‘Sujeewa’ to the claimant and thereby called for a report from the Department of Wildlife Conservation.

The Court was informed that ‘Sujeewa’ had recently given birth to a calf and her separation would adversely affect the wellbeing of the calf.