Jumbos stranded due to floods

8 February 2011 06:30 pm

More than 72 wild elephants have been detected marooned in the flood affected areas in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, Director General of Wildlife Conservation Department, Chandrawansa Pathiraja said

He added that 70 out of them were stranded in Manik Farm and Settikulam areas in Vavuniya. Two elephant calves have been detected in Singhapura area in Welikanda, and measures have already been taken to rescue those two, the Director General said.

Due to the rainfall in the last few days the lives of three elephant calves were lost, Wild Life Department sources said. Making an appeal, the Wild Life Department has requested the people not to try anything to scare the elephants off as they would move back to their familiar grounds once the flood waters have started subsiding. (Indika Ramanayake)