Environment Minister Dhammika Patabendi has dropped a bombshell in Parliament, claiming that wild elephants are being deliberately shot using firearms distributed during the reigns of former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe. He warns that this cruelty is part of an orchestrated conspiracy to discredit the current government.
Environment Minister Dhammika Patabendi has firmly denied claims that the current government is distributing weapons used to kill wild elephants, asserting instead that these firearms were issued during the tenures of former leaders Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Speaking in Parliament, the Minister said that not a single gun has been given to farmers since the new administration took office. Yet, disturbing videos have surfaced online showing injured elephants being shot and left to suffer prompting allegations that the current government is enabling such brutality. Patabendi insists this is part of a politically motivated campaign aimed at tarnishing the government’s image.
According to the Minister, elephants are being deliberately shot from the knees downward, a technique that causes prolonged agony before death. These horrific scenes are then circulated through YouTube and other social media platforms, allegedly to stir public outrage and manipulate perception.
He further claimed that there is credible information pointing to an organized group behind the shootings, suggesting that the intention is not just to kill elephants, but to discredit the new government by portraying it as negligent or complicit.
As a result, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been instructed to conduct a full investigation into the matter to uncover who is responsible for this alleged conspiracy. Patabendi emphasized that this situation is not merely about wildlife conservation, but about protecting national integrity from those exploiting elephant deaths for narrow political agendas.
“This is not wildlife protection gone wrong. This is a political strategy using elephant corpses to provoke public emotion,” he told Parliament.
