Three elephants die from land-mine injuries

Three wild elephants died from their injuries after stepping on a land mine in north-eastern Sri Lanka because government veterinarians refused to go to rebel-held territory without army and Red Cross escorts, officials said today.

A government wildlife official said the vets were unable to go to the area because representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross declined to be accompanied by armed escorts.

After two days of negotiations between the veterinarians and Red Cross, a report was received yesterday that the female and two baby elephants had died, said Tharaka Prasad, the Wildlife Department’s deputy director.

“We could not go to the area due to security concerns and we had to abandon our mission,” he said.

Wildlife officials were first notified about the wounded elephants last week by the ICRC, which was told by the Tamil Tiger rebels that the animals were bleeding and needed immediate care.

ICRC spokesman Sukumar Rockwood said the agency was willing to accompany the veterinarians, but has a policy of not travelling together with soldiers.

“We cannot go with an armed escort, while the veterinary surgeons insisted that they need armed protection and finally we had to give up,” Rockwood said.

The Tigers, who are fighting to carve out a separate homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, have already created a de facto state in the island’s north and east, complete with their own military and police.

There is no formal demarcation of territory, but the rebels and the government have observation posts to spot any infiltration.

In September, the guerrillas seized three Sri Lankan policemen who were pursuing a suspected British paedophile in rebel territory. One policeman has since been released, but the two others remain in rebel custody.

Sri Lanka was home to 10,000 to 15,000 elephants a century ago, but today only about 3,000 are left, largely because of poaching and loss of habitat.