Perahera elephant seriously injured after civil defence guard fires shots
A civil defence guard attached to the Wildlife Department was arrested for firing and causing injuries to a tame elephant brought for a temple procession in Mahiyanganaya early yesterday.
Mahiyanganaya police Chief Inspector A.N. Wijeratne said the incident occurred after people who had come to the temple to witness the procession of the Mahiyagana Rajamaha viharaya had complained to Wildlife Department officers of an elephant spotted at the bank of the Mahaweli river, an area usually frequented by elephants.
However, it later turned out that the elephant, tethered to a tree, was none other than Seetha who had gone in procession for the Saman Devalaya perahera, the previous day. Wildlife officers including the civil defence guard had arrived at the scene to drive away the elephant, and according to the police complaint, the civil defence guard had shot at the elephant with a shotgun causing injuries to one of its front legs and the left side of its body.
Wildlife officers claimed that the civil defence officer had not seen the shackles tethering the elephant to the tree.
Police said following a complaint made by the elephant owner the civil defence guard was produced at the Mahiyanganaya Magistrate courts yesterday. He was released on surety bail of Rs. 100,000.
Meanwhile, a statement signed by the Department of wildlife Conservation’s (DWC) Director General Chandana Sooriyabandara, stated, that DWC officials deployed to safeguard people who had come to see the annual Mahiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya perahera had fired shots to drive away wild elephants by using rubber bullets and in the process had accidentally shot a tame elephant brought for the perahera.
The statement says the DWC veterinary surgeon was brought in to treat the injured animal at that point and an investigation would be held into the matter.
Well-known veterinarian Prof Ashoka Dangolla told the Sunday Times that the elephant was not doing well.
He had visited the injured animal and he said the elephant had sustained gun shot wounds in its left leg and close to its chest. It was hesitant to move its leg and reluctant to put weight on it, due to the pain.
He said one of his junior vets would be making a contraption to help the elephant support itself and they will be attending to the elephant.
Condemning the action of the DWC officials he voiced concern over the method of shooting and injuring animals to drive them away.
Prof Dangolla urged authorities to set up a hospital to treat ailing elephants, a request he said he had made several times to no avail.