Two wild elephants, including a calf, were electrocuted after becoming entangled in an illegally rigged electric fence erected around a cultivation land in the Jothiamuna area of Maligawila, Okkampitiya.
According to Lankadeepa, the elephants were killed instantly after coming into contact with the live wire, which had been set up to protect a plantation cultivated with sugarcane, papaya, banana and paddy crops from wild animals.
The dead elephants have been identified as a 20-year-old adult elephant, measuring about six feet in height, and an elephant calf aged around one year, measuring approximately four feet tall.
Wildlife officers have arrested an individual who had been looking after the property, while the owner of the land where the electric fence had been installed has reportedly fled the area and gone into hiding.
Wildlife officials, together with the Okkampitiya Police, are conducting investigations and taking steps to apprehend the landowner. (NewsWire)
