Electrified fence to keep elephants away

Matale District Group Corr.

The Wildlife Conservation Department has started putting up an electric fence to prevent wild elephants from entering villages in the Laggala and Welgamuwa Divisional Secretariat areas.

The fence will cover an area of 22 kilometres from Nippon bridge to Dunuwelpitiya.

It was reported that wild elephants had moved close to Matale town several times over the past four months. They had invaded the adjacent villages having come from the Wasgamuwa Sanctuary.

The human-elephant conflict in these areas will be curbed to a manageable level once this fence is completely built, Wildlife Conservation Department sources said.