Jute to chase the wild elephants that clash with humans of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Wildlife Department has decided to cultivate jute as elephant fence to prevent the wild elephants roaming into human settlements causing damages to both man and the wild elephants.

Addressing a press conference held in the Wildlife Department, the Minister of Wildlife Vijith Vijayamuni Soyza said that the elephants are afraid of this natural thorny cultivation.

So far the Wildlife Department built electric fences to scare away the elephants from villages. However, it has been identified costly for construction and maintenance. The jute fiber fence will be established parallel and close to the electric fence currently constructed to ward off elephants from the fence.

Around 200 humans and 50 elephants die each year in Sri Lanka due to man - elephant conflict.

Sri Lanka's popular jute plant is different from the Indian variety. I think what they are going to grow is the local jute plant.

Rabies among elephants in Sri Lanka

(September 24, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Veterinary doctors of Sri Lanka have identified two elephants that were infected by rabies. This is the first time the decease was identified among elephants, said Sri Lanka's virology research institute chief Ochala Wimalaratna addressing a seminar held yesterday.

The infected elephants are tamed ones that live in Colombo municipal limits, she said.

Sri Lanka is among the ten leading countries in the world that report highest death rates from human rabies and animal bites requiring post-exposure treatment. Dogs are the main reservoir and transmitters of rabies in Sri Lanka.

Each year a total of about 75 human deaths are reported on the island, according to WHO reports.