Wildlife officials have arrested a man for flying a drone in a way that obstructed wild elephants moving along the Galgamuwa–Kasikote main road in the North Western Wildlife Zone.
The suspect was detained for operating the drone close to the Kasikote elephant tunnel, an underpass built to let elephants cross beneath the road at a point where the herds regularly move between feeding grounds.
He was produced before the Mahawa Magistrate’s Court along with the drone. The suspect admitted his mistake, and the case was put off to a later date.
Crowds at the crossing
Wildlife officials said large crowds routinely gather near the Kasikote tunnel to watch elephants cross, and warned that the practice puts onlookers at risk. Animals startled by noise, lights or low-flying equipment may turn on bystanders rather than continue through the underpass.
Officials said action would be taken against anyone filming wildlife illegally using drones, with both the operator and the equipment produced before court.
Pressure on the crossings
Underpasses and fenced corridors are a central part of the state’s response to human-elephant conflict, which remains among the country’s most persistent wildlife problems. The Department of Wildlife Conservation recorded 180 wild elephant deaths in the first seven months of this year.
Collisions and confrontations along main roads through elephant country are a recurring feature of that toll. A car struck a wild elephant at Habarana earlier this month, and five people were injured when an elephant attacked a van at Padukka in July. Authorities have also been trialling bamboo bio-fencing developed with Chinese support as a lower-cost barrier along conflict-prone boundaries.
Sources: Daily Mirror.
