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Shermila Rajapaksha to be appointed Zoological Gardens DG 

20 Oct 2021

  • Former Social Media Head at Presidential Secretariat to replace Ishini Wickremesinghe 
By Dinitha Rathnayake and Pamodi Waravita  Former Presidential Secretariat Social Media Head Shermila Rajapaksha is set to be appointed as the National Zoological Gardens Department Director General (DG) in the days ahead, The Morning reliably learnt. Rajapaksha is slated to fill the vacancy left by the much-talked-about resignation of former DG Ishini Wickremesinghe in early September. Rajapaksha had served in the role of Head of Social Media at the Presidential Secretariat before submitting her resignation in June 2020.  When The Morning contacted the Wildlife and Forest Conservation Ministry for confirmation of Rajapaksha’s appointment, the Ministry said that it had sent the cabinet paper about Rajapaksha’s appointment on Monday (18). However, it would learn whether it was approved by the Cabinet tomorrow (21) due to yesterday (19) and today (20) being holidays. Wickremesinghe’s resignation followed a court decision on 6 September which directed 14 elephants under the charge of the National Zoological Gardens Department to be released to their so-called original “owners” for registration. This followed a gazette notification issued by the Wildlife Protection, Adoption of Safety Measures including the Construction of Electrical Fences and Trenches, and Reforestation and Forest Resource Development State Ministry. The court decision is part of ongoing legal proceedings into incidents of elephant trafficking that took place primarily between 2010 and 2015. Since 2015, 34 such elephants, including baby elephants, were taken into custody and held with the Wildlife Conservation Department (DWC) and the National Zoological Gardens Department.


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