[1] The Ceylon Game Protection Society was formed on 23 May 1894 at a meeting of 26 British hunting enthusiasts (including Sir Wilbraham Lennox, Rear Admiral William Robert Kennedy, Reginald Beauchamp Downall, C. Fisher and C. LeMesurier), organised by Captain E. Gordon Reeves, at the Bristol Hotel, Colombo.
The society's main concerns were to stop or reduce the commercial hunting of game as it was dramatically impacting on their enjoyment as sports hunters.
The society was instrumental in setting up the Department of Wildlife Conservation, which is the government body that maintains National Parks and recently initiated the country's first-ever Life Insurance Policy for the department's employees.
[2] The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society conducts monthly lectures on conservation issues by inviting expert speakers,[3] advocates for Environmental Impact Assessments to be carried out in the coastal zone for proposed development projects,[4] advocates against the boar meat trade,[5] ensures environmental standards and park policy[6] of National Parks,[7] conducts projects towards elephant conservation,[8][9] condemns the use of elephants in festivals,[10] and maintains a 'youth wing' which aims to raise awareness on environmental conservation among school children.
[11] The society works towards human-elephant co-existence by clearing elephant corridors[12] of illegal settlements, initiating strategic electric fencing methods, identifying mitigation methods[13] using flash lights to repel elephants,[14] ensuring the welfare of the local communities and raising public awareness.