Elephant family found dead at Wilpattu

An entire family of elephants was found dead in the Wilpattu National Park with officials suspecting that lightning may have been the cause.

Park Warden Manoj Widyaratne said his officers found the dead she elephant and her three calves at the same location.

“In fact the bodies were in a pile and we did not find any external injuries. We suspect that lightning may have been the cause. The exact cause of the death can be revealed after the post-mortem,”Widyaratne said. According to the park warden the bodies had been found after several days. Heavy showers, accompanied by thunder have been a frequent occurrence, especially in the afternoon during the last few days.