4 Baby Elephants Among 6 Killed After Train Collides with Herd: Reports

At least half a dozen wild elephants have been killed after a passenger practice collided with them in Sri Lanka, in line with native officers.

The Sri Lankan Police introduced in a Facebook submit that certainly one of its Meenagaya trains — which had run from the japanese coastal metropolis of Batticaloa to the nation’s capital Colombo — had derailed after colliding with eight elephants on Wednesday, Feb. 19. 

No passengers have been injured, and officers helped get them onto one other practice so they might proceed on to their vacation spot, officers mentioned. Sadly, six elephants died on account of a collision, whereas two different elephants have been injured and handled by wildlife officers.

A graphic shared by police confirmed a number of individuals strolling towards the practice because it rested on the aspect of the tracks. A second picture confirmed an elephant strolling beside the practice. 

Hasini Sarathchandra, a spokesman for the federal government’s wildlife division, instructed the Associated Press (AP) that 4 of the lifeless elephants have been infants and two have been adults. 

Sarathchandra additionally famous that the realm the place the practice derailed is famend for its nature park and mentioned the federal government’s wildlife division was investigating.

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“According to a statement released by the Department of Wildlife Conservation, Railway Department officials, police, and wildlife officers swiftly coordinated efforts at the scene. Further investigations into the incident are underway to determine the circumstances surrounding the collision,” Daily News reported, per CNN.

The outlet additionally reported that the incident occurred at night time, at round 11:30 p.m.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Sri Lankan elephants are the “largest and the darkest” of the Asian elephants. The herd measurement of Sri Lankan elephants ranges from 12-20 elephants and is “led by the oldest female, or matriarch.”

“Sri Lanka elephants are protected under the Sri Lankan law and killing one carries the death penalty,” the WWF famous on its web site. 

The incident comes a number of months after one other practice collision in October killed at the very least two elephants in northwest Sri Lanka within the city of Minneriya, in line with an AP report.

Minneriya National Park, the place the practice collision occurred, is “home to the world’s largest known gathering of Asian elephants.” It can also be “part of the elephant corridor” that connects two different nationwide parks and permits guests to see “elephant herds” all yr within the space, in line with the park’s web site.