(COLOMBO) – At least 50 wild elephants in Sri Lanka have been due to electrocution during the past one year with powerful power lines placed illegally by farmers to protect their crops, a top Power official said on Thursday.
In addition that some 474 wild elephants have been also killed through other illegal methods during this same period, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Deputy General Manager (Business & Operational Strategy) and media spokesman Eng. K.A. Noel Priyantha said.
“Therefore, the CEB had already taken legal action against those who illegally use electricity to kill elephants. The CEB requests support from the people to protect the elephant population in the country”, Priyantha said in a media statement.
Accordingly, the CEB has issued an emergency number 1987 to make direct complaints about incidents relating to connecting power lines to fences protecting cultivations.
The human elephant conflict has remained a festering issue or the past many decades as the elephants lose their natural habitat owing to encroachment by farmers.
