Two Grama Niladharis were arrested on charges of being in possession of three ivory pendants during a raid on a house at Polpithigama.
The Polpithigama Police said the arrests were made on a tip off received by the Nikaweratiya Division Intelligence Unit.
They said suspects, one of whom was 32 and the other 43, were residents of Ma-Eliya and Makulpotha and would be produced in the Mahawa Magistrate's Court shortly.
The police said they launched investigations after the Walana- Panadura Anti-Vice Striking Unit had recovered a pair of elephant tusks and an ivory gemstone also known as gaja muthu from the possession of two suspects on November 23. One of the suspects was a Grama Niladhari.
Investigations had revealed that the tusks and the gaja muthu were removed from the Galgamuwe tusker better known as the Dala Poottuwa.
On Friday, the Police arrested five people on suspicion of being involved in the killing of this majestic tusker. (Darshana Sanjeewa)
Please credit and share this article with others using this link:http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Dalaputtuwa-killing-Two-Grama-Niladharies-arrested--141496.html
Welcome to Elephant News Sri Lanka. This site is intended to be a public service to those wishing to keep up to date with events and issues affecting elephants in Sri Lanka.
Showing posts with label ivory poaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ivory poaching. Show all posts
Friday, January 19, 2018
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Five arrested over elephant killing in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan police have arrested five men for allegedly killing a wild elephant, with officers seizing ivory and tusk-cutting tools, officials said Friday.
Villagers in the island’s northwest had alerted wildlife authorities after a popular local elephant called “Dala Poottuwa”, or crossed tusker, disappeared.
Its carcass was later found with a bullet wound in the skull.
Authorities broke up what they say is a poaching network as part of their investigation, charging five men with killing the elephant.
“They had in their possession several tools used to cut tusks (and) two ivory pendants,” said police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera.
Elephants are protected under Sri Lankan law and poachers can face the death penalty for killing one.
Tusked elephants are rare in Sri Lanka, accounting for less than five per cent of the island’s estimated elephant population of around 6000.
That figure has declined from the last official census of the island’s elephants, which identified more than 7300 animals.
Please credit and share this article with others using this link:https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/949321/five-arrested-over-elephant-killing-in-sri-lanka
Villagers in the island’s northwest had alerted wildlife authorities after a popular local elephant called “Dala Poottuwa”, or crossed tusker, disappeared.
Its carcass was later found with a bullet wound in the skull.
Authorities broke up what they say is a poaching network as part of their investigation, charging five men with killing the elephant.
“They had in their possession several tools used to cut tusks (and) two ivory pendants,” said police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera.
Elephants are protected under Sri Lankan law and poachers can face the death penalty for killing one.
Tusked elephants are rare in Sri Lanka, accounting for less than five per cent of the island’s estimated elephant population of around 6000.
That figure has declined from the last official census of the island’s elephants, which identified more than 7300 animals.
Please credit and share this article with others using this link:https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/949321/five-arrested-over-elephant-killing-in-sri-lanka
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Storm erupts over dead elephant
SKUKUZA – The carcass of an elephant lying in a pool of its own blood, was found outside Satara Rest Camp in the Kruger National Park early on Tuesday morning.
Some of its intestines were visible, but otherwise there were no signs of predators feasting on it.
The carcass was removed by park officials that hoisted it onto a truck and took into the veld for an autopsy. “This was a difficult task, since the ground was very wet due to the heavy thunderstorm earlier,” says Reynold Thakuli, general manager for media, public relations and stakeholder relations of SANParks.
Yesterday he confirmed that a team of veterinarians could only deduce that the animal had been struck by lightning, since no other possible causes for its death could be found.
While several news sites reassured readers that the elephant had died due to an act of nature, the guesswork on social media ranged from a muti killing to ivory poachers who had been disturbed before being able to remove the tusks, to being the work of predators.
The latter was questioned by commentators who assumed predators would feast on the intestines first, while others alleged that predators do not feed on animals struck by lightning. This phenomenon could not be confirmed, but a local vet conceded that predators might be deterred by a “typical chemical smell” after a lightning strike.
First reports that its genitals had been removed triggered suspicions about a muti killing, while holes that allegedly would confirm a lightning strike were apparently found when vets examined the carcass.
This led to more speculation on a SANParks Facebook group, with a doubting Thomas suggesting that the elephant must have been “lying with its belly up in the air” when struck. He was quickly informed that “lightning enters at the top and heads earthward through the body, possibly splitting along the way, causing multiple exit wounds and burns”.
Lowvelder received information that the elephant had been shot by officials since it was causing problems at the camp. This allegation was denied by Thakuli.
• Elephants killed by lightning are apparently not uncommon. A few websites, including www.roadsideamerica.com, tell that a well-known American circus elephant called Pitt was killed in August 1943 in Montana when a sudden bolt of lightning knocked her down. It also mentions Norma Jean, a 6 500-pound elephant of the Clark and Walters Circus struck and killed in 1972, with her trainer “knocked 30 feet by the blast”.
In 2008 an elephant owned by the Guruvayur Devaswom temple died after it was struck by lightning in Thrissur (www.thehindu.com) and in May last year, the Express Tribune reported that four elephants were killed by lightning in northern Sri Lanka.
Please credit and share this article with others using this link:https://lowvelder.co.za/408501/storm-erupts-dead-elephant/
Some of its intestines were visible, but otherwise there were no signs of predators feasting on it.
The carcass was removed by park officials that hoisted it onto a truck and took into the veld for an autopsy. “This was a difficult task, since the ground was very wet due to the heavy thunderstorm earlier,” says Reynold Thakuli, general manager for media, public relations and stakeholder relations of SANParks.
Yesterday he confirmed that a team of veterinarians could only deduce that the animal had been struck by lightning, since no other possible causes for its death could be found.
While several news sites reassured readers that the elephant had died due to an act of nature, the guesswork on social media ranged from a muti killing to ivory poachers who had been disturbed before being able to remove the tusks, to being the work of predators.
The latter was questioned by commentators who assumed predators would feast on the intestines first, while others alleged that predators do not feed on animals struck by lightning. This phenomenon could not be confirmed, but a local vet conceded that predators might be deterred by a “typical chemical smell” after a lightning strike.
First reports that its genitals had been removed triggered suspicions about a muti killing, while holes that allegedly would confirm a lightning strike were apparently found when vets examined the carcass.
This led to more speculation on a SANParks Facebook group, with a doubting Thomas suggesting that the elephant must have been “lying with its belly up in the air” when struck. He was quickly informed that “lightning enters at the top and heads earthward through the body, possibly splitting along the way, causing multiple exit wounds and burns”.
Lowvelder received information that the elephant had been shot by officials since it was causing problems at the camp. This allegation was denied by Thakuli.
• Elephants killed by lightning are apparently not uncommon. A few websites, including www.roadsideamerica.com, tell that a well-known American circus elephant called Pitt was killed in August 1943 in Montana when a sudden bolt of lightning knocked her down. It also mentions Norma Jean, a 6 500-pound elephant of the Clark and Walters Circus struck and killed in 1972, with her trainer “knocked 30 feet by the blast”.
In 2008 an elephant owned by the Guruvayur Devaswom temple died after it was struck by lightning in Thrissur (www.thehindu.com) and in May last year, the Express Tribune reported that four elephants were killed by lightning in northern Sri Lanka.
Please credit and share this article with others using this link:https://lowvelder.co.za/408501/storm-erupts-dead-elephant/
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Police Arrests a Woman For Keeping Unlicensed Elephant Tusks
A woman has been arrested by the crime branch of the Borelesgamuwa police station for keeping a pair of elephant tusks without the licence.
The suspect is a resident of Gangodawila, Nugegoda Damayanthi Noelin Karunaratne.
The suspect woman was granted two personal bails worth Rs 100,000 each.
A Hearing will take place on September 28 at the Gangodawila Magistrate’s Courts.
Please credit and share this article with others using this link:http://timesrilanka.com/2017/07/31/policeelephant-tusksbreaking-news/
The suspect is a resident of Gangodawila, Nugegoda Damayanthi Noelin Karunaratne.
The suspect woman was granted two personal bails worth Rs 100,000 each.
A Hearing will take place on September 28 at the Gangodawila Magistrate’s Courts.
Please credit and share this article with others using this link:http://timesrilanka.com/2017/07/31/policeelephant-tusksbreaking-news/
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