2 December 2017 08:20 am Views - 10507
Its body was found near the Thabbowa reservoir in Karuwalagaswewa on Wednesday morning.
The Puttalam Wildlife Conservation Department Assistant Director W.M.K.S. Chandraratne said Veterinary Surgeon Chandana Jayasinghe who carried out the postmortem examination had in his report identified the elephant's death was caused by gunshot injuries to its liver and the resultant internal bleeding.
Villagers said the 18-year-old elephant with with its four-foot pair of tusks was not often seen outside the jungle area it inhabited.
The tusks were taken into custody by the wildlife department. (Jayaratne Wickremarachchi)