360 Elephants And 99 Humans Killed So Far This Year In Man Versus Innocent Beast Conflict
Nearly 360 elephants have died while 99 people perished due to the human-elephant conflict so far this year.
The Department of Wildlife Conservation says by October 31, there were 351 elephant deaths and unfortunately the trend continues. Wildlife officer Maithri Madushan Wickramasinghe was killed by an elephant on Sunday in Matale. The 42 year old father of a nine month infant was the third department official to lose his life this year in the line of duty
The remains of Wickramasinghe, who was killed while on duty at Rathgammana, Matale was brought to his residence yesterday in the Kubulweva area in Raththota.
A Department official said that the same elephant killed a nun in the area few days ago.
Officially, newly appointed Wildlife Minister S.M. Chandrasena had not spelt out his plans to the Department though he was reported saying he would find a solution to the human-elephant conflict.
The Department also said that the battle between villagers of Galgamuwa and the Tusker named Chandi continued to disrupt the villagers’ day to day lives.
This is the most recent incident in the string of encroachments by the wild elephant.
Even though Chandi had been relocated to the Horowpothana elephant holding ground, he keeps returning to his home in the Galgamuwa area.
Meanwhile, a 30-year-old elephant was found dead after being entangled in an unprotected electric wire in Medirigiriya in Polonnaruwa.
Lives of the residents of Settikulam in Vavuniya have also been affected by the human-elephant conflict.
The Sinnasaalaman and Periyasaalaman villages in Ottuchudan, Mullaitivu have already found themselves added to the list of villages at risk of wild elephant attacks.
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