Overview
- Police took three men ages 42 to 50 into custody in Anuradhapura on Dec 18, and a magistrate ordered them held until Dec 24.
- Wildlife officials said the elephant was first shot and then set alight, and veterinarians could not save it.
- The video circulated widely on social media and drew widespread condemnation at home and abroad.
- Elephants are legally protected in Sri Lanka, with poaching punishable by death, though executions have not occurred since 1976 and such sentences are typically commuted to life.
- Reporters place the case within escalating human–elephant conflict, citing roughly 400 elephant and 200 human deaths each year and an estimated 7,000 wild elephants nationwide.