When the case was filed, wildlife experts estimated about 40 baby elephants had been stolen from their herds over a decade and sold for about US$125,000 each.

The practice largely stopped when a new Government took office in 2015 and launched a crackdown.

However, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who served briefly as President from 2019, had several other elephant theft cases dropped.

But the charges against Roshan proceeded.

Rajapaksa himself kept two baby elephants at his official residence when he served in his elder brother’s administration from 2005 to 2015.

Among Sri Lanka’s super-rich, owning a baby elephant is considered the ultimate status symbol and the animals were traditionally kept by aristocrats.

They continue to be paraded at temple festivals.

The illegal trade in calves has been blamed for a decline in Sri Lanka’s elephant population, with conservationists noting mothers are often killed so their young can be captured.

Escalating human-elephant conflict has also claimed around 400 elephants and 200 human lives annually over the past five years.

Sri Lanka has an estimated 7000 wild elephants – considered a national treasure, partly because of their significance in Buddhist culture.

– Agence France-Presse