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Elephant owners Niraj Roshan Samarakkodi, in white shirt, and his wife Chamali pet their beasts, Kandula, right and Suddi at a compound in Pannipitiya, a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, September 12, 2021. Environmentalists in Sri Lanka are challenging a court order issued earlier this month that would allow the return of 14 illegally captured wild elephants to people accused of buying them from traffickers. Rights groups and lawyers say the Sept. 6 court order is based on a government decree that violates Sri Lankan environmental laws. They fear the order could encourage a resurgence of trafficking of wild elephants, putting them at risk. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)
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