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12-year old tusker Mugalan found dead near the Udawalawe tank
A 12 year-old tusker, identified as Mugalan was killed by a muzzleloader gun near the Udawalawe tank, a senior wildlife officer said yesterday.
Chandana Sooriyabandara, Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation said the elephant died due to the injuries caused to its cranium.
Another majestic tusker falls: Mugalan found shot dead. Pix by Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi
Wildlife officials have lodged a complaint in this connection with the Hambegawmuwa police and made submissions to the Embilipitya Magistrate’s court.
“We will bury the remains of the elephant separately to prevent people illegally obtaining its tusks. We will do it according to legal protocol,” he said.
Hambegamuwa police said that they were alerted by the Udawalawe Wildlife Department that an elephant had been found dead, at around 8 a.m.
They said initial investigations showed that the elephant that was killed was heading towards the village area and they believe a villager must have shot at the animal.
Police also said that the villagers had told them that they had complained to the DWC yesterday night that an elephant was heading towards their village, but their response came too late.
According to the Udawalawe “Ath Athuru Sevena” Elephant Transit home, Veterinary surgeon Dr Malaka Abeywardena who led the postmortem said that though there were several incidents where elephants of Udawalwe have been killed, this was the first time an elephant was killed within the boundaries of the park.
Wildlife officials examine the dead tusker
He also stated that wildlife officials had driven the elephant into the park, as it was found roaming outside the park at around 2.30 pm. Dr Abeywardena said that the wildlife officials who were patrolling the park at 1.30 a.m. in the morning had not seen the dead elephant in the area it was found dead later on in the day.
Therefore, he concluded that the elephant was shot dead after 1.30 a.m.
Meanwhile, environmentalists hit out at the actions of the Wildlife Department.
Shashikalana Ratwatte said that the DWC’s administration should be held responsible for the killing of elephants within parks. He said the fact that the elephant was killed within the park showed that the security within the park had been breached.
“We were sad to hear about tragedy. During this same time last year, the famous Galgamuwa tusker suffered a similar fate. Many other tuskers have been shot since that incident and the Wildlife Department had failed to protect them.