Jungle rumble: The battle goes on

The duel between man and beast does not seem to have an end and the situation seems to be worsening by the day. The result is that both man and beast die in the confrontation. While an elephant at Dighawapiya area in Ampara district was killed in early February, on the 26th of last month a wild elephant killed a farmer in Ruhunugama village.

Other villages where the menace is rampant in this district are Kotavehera, Suduwella and Vijithapura where at sundown elephants stray into paddy fields destroying crops and other cultivations. According to Wild Life officials already four elephants have been killed in the two months of this year.

Speaking on the issue of negligence on the part of the Wild Life officers, Ven. Anuradhapura Dhammarama Thera of the Ruhunugama temple said that so far three villagers have become victims.“When his mother was killed by an elephant, her son had shot the animal dead. Much harm is being done to cultivation by marauding animals who stray into villages at dusk,” he said.

The thera lamented that no amount of appeals made to officials has met with any success and added that requests for necessary items be supplied to scare the animals away have not met with success either. He appealed to the President to take some action to counter the menace which has caused villagers to leave their homes and go elsewhere.

A person identified as W. Nimal said animals roam at night in the Buddhangala area and requested officials to have an electrified fence erected to tackle the problem. Dighawapi farmers organisation president S.S. Wijekoon said he wanted officials to have an electrified fence erected.

A Wild Life official blamed humans for straying into animal territory forcing them to invade villages. He, however, said staff was insufficient to fight the menace. According to him areas where electrified fences were needed have been identified and said chief among them were Buddhangala, Ekgalaoya and Dighawapi.