News
Tagged elephant dies at Suriyawewa
Villagers in the Suriyawewa area reported the death of an elephant who had been tagged with a GPS collar. It is reported that it is the first time an elephant with a GPS collar had been found dead.
The lifespan of an elephant is around 65 years, but the tagged elephant who was found deadwas just 35 years old. According to the postmortem report, the beast had an infected wound on its neck which had spread leading to its death.
The report confirmed the animal had been struggling at the spot for days before its death.
The system of tagging elephants with GPS collars on an experimental basis was first introduced to the North Central Province in 1996, with 20 elephants being tagged.
At Udawalawe around 50 tagged elephants were released to the jungles. “When the elephants are released we monitor them as they grow,” said Veterinary Surgeon Vijitha Perera.
He added that it was mainly for research purposes that a fully grown elephant was tagged with a GPS collar. The life span of a GSP collar is about three years.
Wildlife Dept. Director General H.T .Ratnayake said investigations into the cause of death of the elephant in question had not been finalised.
“We have to establish whether the death of the elephant was caused by its GPS collar, or due to some other reason. We are committed to take action pertaining to this method if the death of the elephant was due the collar he said.
“When GPS collars are placed on animals it is necessary to inform the WLD of time when it needs to be removed so our officers can remove the tags in a timely manner,” he said.
The removal of the tag carries a cost factor he added.