Last remaining elephants in Sinharaja given reprieve by President 

The last two remaining elephants of the Sinharaja forest reserve are to remain on the orders of President Maithripala Sirisena. The animals were to be moved to the Horowpothana elephant holding facility on the orders of the Minister of Wildlife, Sarath Fonseka after villagers had requested Deputy Minister of Wildlife, Palitha Thewarapperuma to remove the animals from the area. The decision by the Ministers was seen as a merely political decision taken without an understanding of the subject.

Environmentalists had vehemently opposed the move as the dry zone habitat was seen as unsuitable for the wet zone elephants while questions were also raised regarding the holding facility where many elephants have reportedly gone missing from.The move had also threatened the forest reserves UNESCO heritage status. 

The decision timely by the President came as wildlife officials were in the process of capturing elephants in order to remove them from the forest area. He has also instructed that the construction of the elephant fence to be expedited in order to protect villagers in the area.