AnarWiki/markdown/Sri_Lankan_Veterinarian_Strike_(2010).md

The **Sri Lankan Veterinarian Strike** was an effort by veterinarians
([doctors](Healthcare "wikilink") who specialise in animals) to protect
the welfare of the [countries](Sri_Lanka "wikilink") elephant
population.

In Sri Lanka, elephants are both a valued part of traditional culture
and an increasing risk to the populace. A spike in population on the Sri
Lankan island has led the government to open lands traditionally
reserved for the elephants to settlement by people. Narrowing habitats
mean that encounters between elephants and people are more and more
common, posing a threat to both elephants and humans. Since 1990, the
number of elephants residing in Sri Lanka has fallen from about 12,000
to approximately 4,000, the result of hunting and dwindling food
sources. When farmers take over land traditionally used by the
elephants, they often improvise electrified fences in an effort to
protect their subsistence crops. However, contact with these fences
enrages the elephants, causing them to crush people and/or property.

Economic depression in Sri Lanka has caused a reduction in funding for
the wildlife veterinary program that provides services to enraged or
injured elephants. Sri Lanka’s Federal Wildlife Department generally
employs nineteen wildlife veterinarians for this purpose, but eight of
the positions have been vacant since 2009 and there is no effort to fill
them. In 2010 the Sri Lankan government introduced a new elephant
conservation plan in an attempt to address increasing conflict between
Sri Lankan villagers and elephants. However, the Wildlife Vet
Association (WVA), a union that represents the veterinarians felt that
the plan was drastically inadequate for the magnitude of conflict and
casualty currently experienced by both sides of the conflict. The
veterinarians began meeting with government officials in an attempt to
facilitate more drastic policy change. Specifically, they were concerned
with the lack of resource for elephants pushed off their habitat by
cattle or subsistence farming. They were told by the Wildlife Department
Director General, Ananda Wijesooriya, that there simply wasn’t enough
land, and therefore nothing could be done.

On August 15, 2010, the WVA announced that the veterinarians for the
entire country would hold a weeklong strike to protest the inadequacy of
the new elephant conservation plan, as well as the disregard for
professional development of the veterinarians. Between August 16 and
August 21, 2010, the eleven national wildlife veterinarians held a
strike, refusing to attend work or serve the government in any capacity.
During this time, they continued to serve injured elephants. The
strikers presented a series of demands. Firstly, they wanted a
respectful meeting with the minister in charge of wildlife. They also
demanded better working conditions for wildlife veterinarians, as well
as the hiring of eight more, to fill the department’s capacity. They
requested that the government establish new nature reserves, and
resettle displaced elephants into them. Finally, they demanded a
hierarchy within the Wildlife department, so that WVA members could
ascend in seniority and compensation without leaving the veterinary
profession. During the week, representatives of the WVA met with the
Deputy Economic Development Minister, though his connection to their
department was limited at best. Beyond this, there isn’t documentation
to suggest that any of their demands were met.

Population continues to increase in Sri Lanka as the economy continues
to suffer. Elephants will continue to be evicted from their natural
homes, and respond to displacement with confusion and rage. This
experience isn’t unique to Sri Lankan elephants, but mirrored in the
experiences of communities and states across the world. Conflict in the
relationship between the natural world and human will increase as
urbanization continues.