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Fully screen two elephant kids at an elephant children’s home in northern Sri Lanka. Illustration image from 2012. Photo: Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP/TT
A passenger train in Sri Lanka derailed on Thursday after crashing with an elephant family. No passengers were injured but six elephants died.
The accident is described as the island’s worst accident with wildlife, according to police. Two elephants managed and was cared for by animal welfare authorities.
Killing or injuring elephants is a crime in Sri Lanka, which has an estimated 7,000 wild elephants. They will be on average 60-70 years outside captivity.
Two elephant kids and their pregnant mother were killed in a similar train accident in the same area in September 2018.
Some have urged drivers to slow down and use train duties to warn animals that are on the railroad tracks. According to local media, about 20 elephants are killed by trains each year.
Elephants, whose natural habitats are influenced by forest deforestation and shrinking resources, have increasingly prevailed to places with human activity.