This year alone 61 wild elephants killed: DWC

The death toll of wild elephants in the Mahaweli Wildlife Zone has been increasing in alarming rate much to the anxiety of the Wildlife Conservations. Asst. Director, Mahaweli Wildlife Zone W.d.m.j.wickremesinghe said statistically 61 wild elephants had died from January to date and that most of them had died due to human activities or accidents.

He said most of them had been electrocuted, run over by train or had drowned in abandoned wells or marshes. The official pointed out several wild elephants had died of injuries caused by the locally made explosive devise “Hakka Patas” and of gunshot injuries and several calves had fallen prey to the Hakka Pattas explosive device. He pointed out that the death toll of wild elephants had increased this year in a large proportion when compared to the previous years.

Wildlife Conservation officer said 21 people had been killed by wild elephants for the year to date. He pointed out that the human –elephant conflict was going on unchecked despite preventive measures taken by the department of wildlife conservations (DWC).