Sri Lanka’s new animal protection law bans ‘drunk-driving’ of elephants

Many rich Sri Lankans keep elephants as pets but complaints of ill-treatment and cruelty are widespread, resulting in new measures to protect the animals

Captive elephants must get biometric ID cards, and there are restrictions on their use in logging, in films, and in the tourism industry

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A royal elephant walks down a street on its way to Kandy, Sri Lanka's second largest city, to take part in a religious festival earlier in August. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 11:30pm, 21 Aug 2021Updated: 11:30pm, 21 Aug 2021

Sri Lanka will issue captive elephants with their own biometric identity cards and ban their riders from drinking on the job under a wide-ranging new animal protection law.

Many rich Sri Lankans – including Buddhist monks – keep elephants as pets to show off their wealth, but complaints of ill-treatment and cruelty are widespread.

The new measures are aimed at protecting the animals’ welfare and include strict regulations around working elephants, as well as mandating a daily two-and-a-half-hour bath for each creature.

Official records show there are about 200 domesticated elephants in the South Asian nation, with the population in the wild estimated at about 7,500.

The new law will require all owners to ensure that animals under their care have new photo identity cards with a DNA stamp.

Sri Lankan mahouts, or elephant attendants, bathe their elephant. Photo: AP

It also brings in multiple regulations for working elephants. Baby elephants can no longer be used for work – even cultural pageants – and cannot be separated from their mothers.