Six elephants were killed in Sri Lanka after being struck by a train

Six elephants were killed in Sri Lanka after being struck by a train. 


On a railroad track, a group of individuals stand, one of them a man wearing a blue jacket with the word "police" printed on the back. There's a derailed train behind them.Getty Pictures In Sri Lanka, trains frequently encounter groups of elephants. Early Thursday morning in central Sri Lanka, a passenger train collided with a herd of elephants close to a wildlife reserve, causing the train to derrail. Six elephants perished in the accident near Habarana, east of the capital Colombo, although no people were hurt. According to AFP, authorities said that two injured elephants were receiving treatment, stating that this was the worst wildlife accident the nation has ever witnessed. It is In Sri Lanka, where the number of fatalities from human-elephant contacts is among the highest in the world, trains frequently collide with elephant herds. According to local media, about 170 individuals and around 500 elephants were killed in human-elephant incidents last year. Additionally, trains kill about 20 elephants per year. Elephants have increasingly wandered into areas where people are present, as their natural habitats are being impacted by deforestation and diminishing resources. To alert animals on railroad tracks, some have asked train drivers to reduce their speed and honk their horns. Similar deaths occurred in Habarana in 2018 when a pregnant elephant and her two calves were hit by a train. The trio had participated in a more extensive herd crossing the tracks of a train at morning. Two elephants were killed and one injured after another train collided with a herd in Minneriya, which is roughly 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Habarana, last October. Sri Lanka is home to an estimated 7,000 wild elephants, which are legally protected due to their reverence by the country's Buddhist majority. Elephant killing is a crime that carries a jail sentence or a fine.