Wild elephant run over

By Kushan Jayawardene   

Increasing the death toll of wild elephants in the human-elephant conflict, another jumbo had been run over by a train at Habarana on the Batticaloa line in the early hours of last morning.   

It had been run over by the Batticaloa bound Meenagaya Express from Colombo a little distance away from Habarana railway station.   

Wildlife officers said a wild elephant frequenting Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks had met with the accident. The train has derailed causing extensive damage to the track.   

Meanwhile, animal lovers and environmental organizations expressed concern about the failure of the joint programme proposed by the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Department of Railways and the Central Environmental Authority to save wild elephants from train accidents.