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5,000 Puttalam District coconut trees destroyed by intruding elephants
View(s):A herd of elephants tore through a village in the Puttalam district this week and caused damage to crops and coconut plantation, Divisional Secretary Dulanka Athukorala said.
Pic by Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe
She said more than 400 coconut trees were damaged by the wild elephants at Sembukuliya in the Mahakumbukkadawala area in what she described as a serious escalation in the human-elephant conflict.
So far 20 acres of coconut plantation had been destroyed in the area due to the elephant encroachment, she said, adding that 12 of the 16 divisions in the Puttalam District had been categorised as endangered areas. Anamaduwa, Nawagattegama and Wanathawilluwa have been identified as high risk areas.
In the past six months alone, more than 5,000 coconut trees had been damaged by the intruding elephants in the district.
Residents told the Sunday Times that the animals roamed freely on the outskirts of their villages but wildlife officials were not taking effective action to drive away wild elephants, despite repeated complaints.
They said the Wildlife Minister must intervene to provide them a solution.
Asked why the Wildlife Department had failed to help the affected villagers, Puttalam District’s Assistant Wildlife Director Eranda Gamage said his office was severely understaffed and they required more staff to keep the elephants away.