Terrified mother elephant and calf pelted with fireballs in heartbreaking images

Furious villagers launched fireballs at a terrified elephant mother and her calf in an attempt to scare them away from a settlement.

The majestic creatures were cruelly attacked by locals in eastern India, prompting an outcry from animal rights activists around the world.

Disturbing images, taken in Bishnupur, show the panicked animals fleeing as residents hurled flaming sticks and chased them with batons to deter them from damaging properties.

Reports claim that deforestation has forced the confused animals into areas inhabited by humans.

Other heartbreaking photos show a group of elephants attempting to navigate a railway line which runs straight through their habitat.

In another image, the herd are pelted with rocks.

The shocking pictures have angered animal rights activists around the world.

They have called for more to be done to protect elephants from encroaching deforrestation.

Photographer Biplab Hazra, who captured the attack, has demanded an end to the destruction of the elephant habitats in the area.

He told Caters: “This happens because the villagers have to save their crops.

“There are many elephant corridors in human habitations. I’m trying to show this and spread my photos to increase public awareness on the matter.”

Last year, footage emerged of a man being trampled to death by a wild elephant in Sri Lanka as his distraught family watched on.

The man jumped out of his car in Kataragama, near Yala National Park, in a bid to stop the elephant and hypnotise it.

But his "trick" spectacularly failed when the huge animal turned and ran towards him, knocking him to the ground as he tried to get away.

The elephant then lifts one of its rights leg and tramples him, crushing him to death immediately.

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/terrified-mother-elephant-calf-pelted-13863256

2 elephants die in another Lanka train collision

COLOMBO: Two elephants were killed and another critically injured Sunday crossing railway tracks in Sri Lanka, officials said, in yet another tragic collision involving the protected animals and speeding trains, reports AFP.

A Jaffna-bound night train rammed into two elephants at Ambanpola, 150 kilometres (93 miles) north of Colombo, killing one and injuring the other. In a separate accident, a passenger train derailed after hitting and killing an elephant near Palugaswewa, 160 kilometres (100 miles) north-east of Colombo.

No passengers were injured in either accident.

“Train services have been disrupted, but we are working to remove the carcass and repair the track on the eastern line,” an official said by telephone.

Speed restrictions are imposed on trains passing through elephant habitats but these are difficult to enforce. Only 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s trains are believed to be equipped with speedometers, local media reported Sunday.

Two weeks ago, a passenger train struck and killed three elephants. A fortnight before that, a mother elephant and her two calves were hit and killed in the east of the country.

Sri Lanka considers elephants a national treasure and they are protected by law. But conflicts between humans and elephants near wildlife sanctuaries remains a problem.

Official figures show 1,200 elephants have been killed by humans in the past five years, with 375 people trampled to death by the beasts.

The government announced in August it would erect 2,651 kilometres (1,556 miles) of electric fencing to keep elephants out of villages bordering wildlife reserves.

It is estimated there are 7,500 wild elephants in Sri Lanka.

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
http://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/344855/2018/10/22/2-elephants-die-in-another-Lanka-train-collision

Sensors to warn trains of elephant crossings

In the wake of elephants being killed in train accidents, Sustainable Development, Wildlife and Regional Development Minister Sarath Fonseka yesterday said measures would be taken to implement high-tech sensors to prevent collisions between elephants and trains.

Speaking to reporters during a press conference at the United National Party (UNP) headquarters of Sirikotha, Fonseka yesterday said that his ministry had carried out tests to implement sensor systems to alert train drivers and help prevent accidents.

Fonseka said that prior to his appointment there were 83 incidents reported of elephants being hit by trains and after his appointment around 10 elephants were killed in three incidents.

Fonseka pointed out that the elephant population had risen during the past few decades.

“In 1985, 2,500 elephants were recorded and today that number has risen up to 7,000,” he added.

According to Fonseka, elephant habitats had increased due to the deforestation caused by development activities such as the Moragahakanda Dam Project and these populations had migrated to other sites, causing social issues.

“The elephants that lived in Moragahakanda have moved to places like Diyabeduma and those elephants were causing agricultural losses to the people who were living in the area. Once the Wayamba Ela Project starts, two-thirds of the habitat of elephants will be reduced.”

Responding to a question on the recent cases of leopards attacking people, he said that the Government would take action against those who killed animals listed as endangered species.

“People have to understand that killing a leopard is unacceptable. Those animals can be captured and relocated to safer areas.”

He pointed out that the Government had taken measures to raise awareness to prevent leopards being attacked.

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
http://www.ft.lk/news/Sensors-to-warn-trains-of-elephant-crossings/56-665347

Sri Lanka elephants face plastic danger foraging dumps for food

Hundreds of Sri Lanka’s wild elephants now scavage at rubbish dumps, risking their health due to plastic scraps mixed with rotting food

At a garbage dump in central Sri Lanka a herd of wild elephants forage among a mountain of rubbish, swallowing dangerous scraps of plastic mixed with rotting food in what experts warn is an increasing problem for the revered animals.

Due to illegal dumping near wildlife sanctuaries, hundreds of Sri Lanka’s estimated 7,500 wild elephants now scavenge at rubbish tips and many are being made sick by what they eat, Jayantha Jayewardene, an expert on Asian elephants, said.

“Sri Lanka considers elephants to be a national treasure, but we see these animals reduced to eating rubbish,” Jayewardene told AFP Thursday.

“They have become docile and got so used to tractors bringing them garbage.”

Some wild elephants have become accustomed to scavanging in rubbish dumps instead of foraging in the jungle

A herd of 20 wild elephants at Habarana in the east of Sri Lanka has become totally dependent on rubbish and behaved almost like domestic animals waiting for tractors to tip the garbage.

“These elephants no longer forage in the jungle. They are like zoo animals. It is a sad sight to see national treasures picking through rotting rubbish,” he said.

The animals can be seen covered in smelly garbage and rooting among piles of plastic bottles, a far cry from the majestic jumbos portrayed in travel brochures.

Jayewardene said the solid waste included plastic scraps despite a government ban on non-biodegradable polythene. Hundreds of elephants elsewhere are also known to forage at dozens of rubbish tips near elephant habitats.





To read the full article, click on the story title