90% of the staff at the Department of National Zoological Gardens are currently protesting at the Dehiwala Zoo against the resignation of the Zoo’s Director General Ishini Wickremesinghe, The Morning learns. Dismissing rumours spread on social media which claimed that her resignation was because of the recent release of the 14 tamed elephants back to their original owners, State Minister of Wildlife Protection Wimalaweera Dissanayake told The Morning that the resignation tendered by Ishini Wickremesinghe was solely based on personal reasons and nothing more. However, he did confirm that in the past, Ishini voiced her concerns over the disapproval of the release of these elephants. When queried whether Wickremesinghe was given this position based on her political connections, Minister Dissanayake dismissed such claims and said that Ishini deserved her position based on her educational qualifications. These elephants have been the subject of an ongoing legal procedure into illegal elephant smuggling that took place primarily between 2010 and 2015. Since 2015, 34 such elephants, including baby elephants, were taken into custody and held with the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the National Zoos. However, the Court ruling on 06 September allowed for the return of 14 of these elephants back to their so-called 'original owners'. Despite The Morning's several attempts to contact Ishini Wickremesinghe for her comments on the matter, they proved to be futile.