A 45-year-old woman has died after being attacked by a wild elephant in the Kivulawadiya area of the Laggala Police Division, police said.
The attack occurred on Saturday night (July 11), when the woman was reportedly walking to a nearby house. She sustained serious injuries and was admitted to the Laggala Hospital, where she later succumbed. The victim was a resident of the Kivulawadiya area. Laggala Police have launched an investigation.
The death adds to a mounting toll from Sri Lanka’s human-elephant conflict, which claims dozens of human and elephant lives each year as habitat loss pushes herds into farming villages. A national survey in 2024 counted more than 7,400 wild elephants, and the government has approved a fresh action plan to manage the conflict through electric fences and community deterrents.
