As drought shrinks Sri Lanka’s water holes, poisoning poses threat to wildlife

Wildlife officers in southern Sri Lanka have spent nearly a decade fighting a grim tactic: poisoning water holes to kill animals for meat, a practice that intensifies as drought concentrates wildlife around fewer water sources. A July incident this year turned up 17 deer carcasses beside an empty agrochemical bag suspected in the poisonings.

The Department of Wildlife Conservation says the poison doesn't discriminate, killing any animal that comes to drink, and researchers link the uptick in poaching to El Niño-driven drought devastating farmers' livelihoods. Consuming the contaminated meat also risks exposing people to the same toxins.

Yala National Park closed two of its most visited sections from mid-September to mid-October as animals suffer heat stress, while the Wildlife Conservation department has installed solar-powered pumps supplying at least 20 water holes daily in one park block. Up north, the Sri Lanka Navy has taken to supplying water to roughly 400 free-roaming ponies on Delft Island after their wells ran dry.

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