Elephant on rampage is partially blind
30 October 2011 09:07 am
T
he elephant, which created havoc in Kekirawa yesterday has been found to be partially blind. Authorities to treat it for injuries suffered to due to previous gun shots
A team under Veterinary Surgeon North Western Zone Dr.Chandana Jayasinghe is to treat the wild elephant and then release it into the forest. However since the animal is weak, the forest officers cannot anesthetise the elephant.
Earlier the residents of the area said the eye sight of the elephant is in a poor condition. The wild beast is believed to be more than 40 years of age.
Police said that the wild elephant was on a rampage along the Kekirawa-Dambulla main road throughout Saturday. The elephant had come into the main road from an area called Kaiylapathana.
First it had attacked a bus. According to residents of the area the animal had attacked all the vehicles which collided with it while on the run along the road.
Commuters and villagers were panic stricken due to the rampage by the wild elephant. The animal had also broken a gate of a house in the Thibbotuwawa area.
Traffic was disrupted in the Kekirawa- Dambulla main road for many hours. However according to forest officers the elephant was not able to cause much damage. The forest officers chased and followed the wild elephant into the Kalawewa forest area on Saturday evening. (Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa)