Three more elephant carcasses were discovered by Wildlife officials during a search operation carried out yesterday (28) in the Hiriwadunna, Habarana Thumbikulam reserve with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Army and the Habarana Police. A distressed calf was found alive near the body of one dead elephant, according to Wildlife officials.
Officials had discovered four carcasses the previous day bringing the total number of elephants found dead under suspicious circumstances to seven. Search operations are continuing in the area according to Wildlife officials who suspect there could be more elephant carcasses in the area.
The Director-General, Wildlife Department, Chandana Sooriyabandara said both, the Department and the Police have commenced investigations into the elephant deaths. Although the cause of death cannot be ascertained until the postmortems are concluded and the toxicology reports received, Sooriyabandara said the elephants showed signs of possible poisoning. “We can only be certain once investigations are complete,” he said. The Department has also reported the facts of the case to court, he said.
The dead elephants are believed to belong to one herd. Of the four female elephants, three were discovered to be pregnant. According to sources, with unauthorized chena cultivation said to be widespread in the Hiriwadunna area, it is suspected that farmers may have attempted to poison the elephants to prevent their crops from being destroyed. The autopsy conducted on two elephants found on Friday revealed they did not die of natural causes.
Another elephant was found dead last week near the Puttalama Kurunduwetiya tank, which was later confirmed as having been poisoned. Parts of the dead elephants found at Hiriwadunna will also be sent to the Government Analysts Department, Sooriyabandara said.