Sri Lanka elephant found with a gunshot wound. How can tuskers be protected?

Kavantissa, believed to be Sri Lanka's tallest living tusker, was found with a gunshot wound to his right foreleg near Galgamuwa in late September. Wildlife officials sedated and treated him with antibiotics, and he has since resumed moving through forest patches and human settlements, though he has grown aggressive and occasionally charges villagers and officers.

The injury echoes the fate of Sankha, a younger tusker shot in the same leg who died in 2022 after falling into a pit, and other prominent tuskers lost in recent years to gunshots and electrocution. The Society for Conservation of Wild Elephants has proposed declaring select tuskers living national heritage, assigning dedicated protection units, fitting them with GPS collars, and building community intelligence networks, pointing to Kenya's protection of famous elephants like Ahmed and Craig as a model.

Conservationist Ravi Corea cautioned against simply importing an African approach, noting Sri Lanka's celebrated tuskers typically roam densely settled landscapes of forests, farms and roads rather than large protected areas. The group also estimated a living wild elephant's value at roughly 3.8 billion rupees, about $11.5 million, counting ecological, cultural and tourism contributions.

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