Muthiyangana Rajamaha Vihara tusker falls to death in abandoned pit

• Madhu was donated to Muthiyangana temple in 1999

By Prasad Rukmal   

Muthiyangana Rajamaha Vihara tusker “Madhu” had fallen into  an abandoned pit covered with a concrete slab in a home garden in  Hasalaka in Mahiyangana and died on Thursday evening.   

The tusker “Madhu” had been taken to Mahiyangana temple for the annual Perahera festival.  The mahout had taken the tusker to a land in Hasalaka about  ten kilometres away from the temple to feed it with Kitul. The tusker  roaming about in the land had fallen into the pit when the concrete  slab covering the pit broke down.   

A team of wildlife officers who arrived had attempted to  take the carcass out with the help of the residents of the area but to  no avail. 

They said the cause of the death could be established only  after the postmortem examination, but they were of the opinion that the  tusker would have received a serious head injury.   

Muthiyangana Viharadhikari Ven. Muruthdeniye Dhammarathana Thera visited the scene on Thursday night and returned.   

The 28-year-old tusker had been donated to Muthiyangana  temple in 1999 by former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake and it  had participated in Perahera festivals in Kandy Sri Dalada Maligawa,  Muthiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya, Mahiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya.