(COLOMBO) – The Sri Lankan authorities are probing the bizarre deaths of seven wild elephants whose decomposed carcasses were found in a marshland in the north-central part of the country on Monday.
Initial investigations have revealed that the herd of elephants had got stuck in the mud and drowned while attempting to cross the water body that had swelled owing to the prevailing wet weather being experienced throughout most parts of the island-nation.
Officials estimated the ages of the elephants to range from one to 25 years.
The gory discovery was made at a wild life reserve in Handapanwila in Polonnaruwa located some 232 kilometres from the commercial capital of Colombo.
The Sri Lankan elephants are an endangered species and revered by locals owing to their historic ties with humans.
The elephants are also widely used in cultural pageants that are closely linked to Buddhism.
The elephants also played an active decisive role in ancient wars that were fought in the island-nation during the rule of monarchies.
According to officials the present elephant population is believed to have dwindled to some 3,000 owing to the loss of their habitat that has been encroached by farmers leading to a festering human-elephant conflict where a large number of them have been put down.
