Protest in Puttlam after father of two mauled to death by wild elephant

Colombo (News 1st);  A 55-year-old father of two was mauled to death on Friday (12) morning by a wild elephant, making it the second tragic incident to instill fear among the locals living in Kal-adiya, Puttlam. To protest the ongoing human-elephant conflict locals staged a demonstration by completely obstructing the Puttlam - Kurunegala main road. It should be noted that for more than 30 years many villages in the Puttlam Divisional Secretariat constantly face the threat from wild elephants. Locals claim wild elephants from the Thabbowa Sanctuary, thus encroach on their villages. The protesting locals demanded the Department of Wildlife provide a solution to the issue and only dispersed from the road after a promise was made to launch an operation to chase away the wild elephants following an intervention from State Minister Piyankara Jayaratne. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEMIqaVDuu8[/embed]