The elephant that sustained gunshot injuries recovered after being treated by the Wildlife Department’s veterinarians.
After recovering from its injuries, the elephant again started to enter the villages, damaging the villagers’ crops.
The villagers took informed Minister Duminda Dissanayake, and he visited the villages on Monday (4) to look into the matter.
People claimed that the elephant had been cared for by Wildlife Department officials for nearly four months and had started its usual lifestyle after recovering.
According to the veterinarians’ recommendations, the elephant Agbo was given 250 to 300 kgs of vegetables, fruits and grass per day during the treatment period. Now the elephant is eating the same amount of the crops in the Thirappane area.
The villagers say that the elephant roams around many villages, has broken down several houses in search of food.
“Agbo, who was unable to walk, is now walking around 10 kilometres a night searching for food in the villages, and many houses and crops have been damaged due to this,” the people said.
Due to it entering the daily villages daily, Wildlife officials have to use 200 to 300 explosives to drive away the elephants daily and the lives of the Wildlife officials are also at risk, the villagers said.
Therefore, the villagers request the relevant authorities to take the elephant away from the area to protect their crops and before any human life is harmed.
