Endangered elephant found dead near SL military base in Mullaith-theevu

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 May 2018, 14:54 GMT]
A 35-year old elephant belonging to an endangered species was found dead at Thearaavil in Mullaiththeevu district at the premises of a military camp of the occupying SL military on Monday morning. The elephant was one of the three surviving elephants belonging to a rare species, according to veterinary physician Sri Giritharan. The animal lost its life after being exposed to electrocution from an illicit electric connection created by the SL military for their Vesak lighting at the camp of the 68th Division, people at Thearaavil village told TamilNet. The medical sources also confirmed that the death was due to electrocution.

Several rare species of animals lost their lives during the times of war mainly due to intense and massive artillery and aerial bombardments.

However, surviving animals started to come back after 2009.

The elephant found dead on Monday was one of the three peaceful elephants belonging to an endangered species, the medical sources in Vanni said.

While the incident on Monday was an accidental one, the occupying Sinhala military is also intentionally exploiting the elephants for political and economic gains in other cases.

On the one hand, the SL Wildlife Department silently brings wild elephants from the jungles in the South deploying them in the forests near Tamil villages in Vanni with a hidden motive of chasing the people away from the areas where the SL military wants to see Sinhala colonisations in the future. On the other hand, the SL military is also killing elephants for their ivory.

In August 2017, a wild elephant was deployed in Chu'ndik-ku'lam of Vadamaraadchi East causing panic among the people. A 50-year-old man lost his life after being allegedly slain by the intruding wild elephant.

However, the SL military or the SL Wild Life Department had relocated it, and there were no reports of anyone spotting the wild elephant after the above incident.

Chu'ndik-ku'lam, being a marshland is not a place for wild elephants. The episode also came after SL military repeatedly threatening the people who cleared their lands for resettlement.

In the meantime, the elephants that have been living in harmony with the nature of the forest lands bordering the agricultural areas of Vanni, are being killed one by one in the recent times, Tamil officials attached to the SL Wildlife Department told TamilNet.

At least five such elephants have died mysteriously in the forest lands of the Northern Province since 2018 January, they said.

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