Sri Lanka’s tallest living wild tusker was shot in the right foreleg in September and died in a paddy field on 16 October. He is the latest in a long line of tuskers lost to bullets, illegal electric fences and neglect.
Research and writing: Justice for Kavanthissa campaignTusker histories adapted from a Sinhala account by ayaletravel · Photographs shared by supporters, credited where knownFiled 17 October 2026, Galle · Updated as the investigation develops
Kavanthissa wades through a reservoir in the Kurunegala dry zone. Photograph shared by supporters; photographer to be credited.
For almost twenty years he walked the forest patches, tanks and paddy fields around Galgamuwa, Usgala and Siyambalangamuwa in the Kurunegala District. Wildlife observers first recorded him in 2008. In 2015 he was named Kavanthissa, after King Kavan Tissa of Ruhuna, the father of King Dutugemunu.
He was believed to be 50 to 60 years old. He stood about 11 feet tall and carried tusks longer than six feet, and he was widely regarded as Sri Lanka’s tallest living wild tusker. Photographers came from across the island to see him. He was not reported to have killed or injured anyone.
On 20 September 2026, wildlife enthusiast Pathum Bandara watched him moving calmly near Galgamuwa. The next day the tusker was limping. There was a gunshot wound on his right foreleg, close to the knee. Media reports later described it as a trap-gun injury.
Kavanthissa feeding in a tank. Shared by supporters.Bathing with companions. Shared by supporters as Kavanthissa.
Department of Wildlife Conservation vets sedated him on 24 September to clean and treat the wound and gave him several rounds of antibiotics. By 1 October the department said he was improving and had rejoined a herd. But he had become aggressive, sometimes chasing villagers and officers, and his health began to fail. He developed diarrhoea and almost stopped eating.
On 16 October he was found collapsed in a paddy field near Siyambalangamuwa. Vets began emergency treatment in the field. The Ministry of Environment approved bringing a veterinary team from Thailand. It was too late. Later that day, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa announced that Kavanthissa had died.
“The tusker had become a symbol of pride for Sri Lanka.”Nayanaka Ranwella, environmental activist, on the Kumana cross-tusker, to Mongabay
Kavanthissa lived on the front line of one of the world’s worst conflicts between people and elephants. Reuters reported this month that Sri Lanka has lost an average of 402 elephants a year since 2019, the highest toll in the world, while an average of 138 people a year have been killed by elephants. Around 70% of the country’s estimated 7,451 wild elephants live outside protected areas.
Each entry is marked by the kind of claim it is. Where something is not known, we say so.
Official statementReported by several outletsSingle report or eyewitnessUnresolved
Date
Event
Status
Source
2008
Tusker first recorded in the Kurunegala District.
Reported
Newswire
2015
Named Kavanthissa, after King Kavan Tissa.
Reported
Newswire
20 Sep 2026
Seen moving normally near Galgamuwa.
Eyewitness
Pathum Bandara, via Mongabay
21 Sep 2026
Seen limping; gunshot wound found on the right foreleg near the knee.
Reported
Mongabay; Newswire
Sep 2026
Injury described as caused by a trap gun near Siyambalangamuwa.
Media report
Newswire
24 Sep 2026
DWC vets sedate and treat him near Usgala Siyambalangamuwa.
Official
Ministry of Environment, via Ada Derana
1 Oct 2026
DWC says he is improving and has rejoined a herd.
Official
DWC, via Newswire
Oct 2026
Becomes aggressive; develops diarrhoea and stops eating.
Reported
Mongabay; Daily Mirror
16 Oct 2026
Found collapsed in a paddy field; emergency treatment; Thai veterinary team approved.
Reported
Newswire; Daily Mirror
16 Oct 2026
Kavanthissa dies. Death announced by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa.
Reported
Newswire; Ada Derana; Sri Lanka Mirror
Questions that still need answers
Who fired the shot or set the trap gun? No one has been publicly identified.
What did the post-mortem find, and will the report be published?
Has a case been opened under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance?
When was outside veterinary help first considered, and what decided the timing?
What protection is now in place for the tuskers still living around Galgamuwa?
Investigation updates
No updates published yet. Moderators add confirmed developments here.
History
The kings we lost
අපෙන් සදහටම සමුගත් ශ්රී ලංකාවේ දළ රජවරු
Sri Lanka has about 7,000 wild elephants. Only a small share of the males, often put at around 5 to 6%, grow tusks. A tusker is not just an animal: he is a living legend, the pride of the forest, a star of the tourism industry and part of the country’s heritage.
Over the past twenty years, much of that heritage has been lost. Behind almost every death on this page is the same story: a bullet, or an illegal electric wire. Here are ten of them, in the order they died.
Accounts are adapted from a Sinhala post by ayaletravel. Where news reports confirm or differ from the account, the note under each entry says so. Tap “සිංහලෙන් කියවන්න” to read the original Sinhala.
Podi Poottuwa. Photo: Rasika Gunaratne.
01 / 11 · 1980s
Podi Poottuwaපොඩි පූට්ටුවා — යාලේ පුරාවෘත්තය
The legend of Yala
Died
1980s
Age / size
Not recorded
Where
Yala
Shot for tusksCommunity account
Another cross-tusked bull, this one from Yala. Old wildlife officers’ records say he was shot dead for his tusks in the 1980s.
His pair of tusks has never been found.
Check: No contemporary news report has been found yet. If you hold records of Podi Poottuwa, please share them through Voices.
The Kumana cross-tusker. Photo: D Behrens, June 2004.
02 / 11 · 17 Jan 2007
The Kumana cross-tuskerකුමන හරස් දළ ඇතා — දුර්ලභ උරුමය
A rare inheritance
Died
17 January 2007
Age / size
Not recorded
Where
Kumana
ShotConfirmed in news
His tusks crossed at the tips, a form so rare it is almost unknown in the world. He lived in Kumana, which gave him his name.
He was shot. Both bones of his foreleg were broken, and when he fell his spine was badly damaged. Vets, flown in by helicopter, tried for three days to save him. They could not. Only after his death did Sri Lanka begin to talk seriously about protecting its cross-tuskers.
Check: Confirmed: environmental activist Nayanaka Ranwella told Mongabay he heard of the shooting on 17 January 2007 and arranged a helicopter for the vets; the bullet had shattered the bones of the front leg and the fall damaged the spine.
The finest on this list. People in Galgamuwa called him “the great tusker” with fear and respect in equal measure. Nobody who saw the symmetry of his tusks forgot it.
In 2010, after a human death in Galgamuwa, the authorities decided to capture him and move him to another forest, the standard procedure. Then the worst happened. The wooden floor of the lorry carrying him broke and a hind leg was trapped in the gap. A five-tonne animal struggled for hours, and the pressure and pain stopped his heart.
The veterinary report read “Transportation Stress Induced Cardiac Failure”: a death caused by a failure in the transport people built.
Check: Details come from the community account. The photograph shows the tusker restrained beside an excavator, consistent with a capture operation.
Villagers tell a different story about Revatha. He was the best-known tusker of the Kala Wewa – Balalu Wewa area, yet there is no report of him ever coming into a village and causing trouble.
His death shook wildlife lovers more than any other. If an animal that never harmed people could be killed, how cruel had we become?
Check: Confirmed: Daily Mirror, Ada Derana and Newsfirst reported on 9–10 March 2021 that Revatha, the oldest tusker of the Kala-Balalu Wewa reserve, was electrocuted by an unauthorised fence around illegal farmland inside the forest.
Kavanthissa was most often seen with Sankha, a young and playful tusker. About a year before he died, Sankha had been shot and his right leg was crippled. He limped clearly when he walked.
Because of that injury he could not move quickly. He fell into an old mud pit, could not climb out, and died there after hours.
Check: Confirmed by Mongabay (October 2026): Sankha had a stiff right leg from a gunshot and died in 2022 after falling into a pit. The community account places them in Minneriya; Mongabay places them around Galgamuwa.
Deeghadanthu 01. Photo: Photographer to be credited.
07 / 11 · 27 Nov 2024
Deeghadanthu 01දීඝදන්තු 01 — කලා වැවේ රජු
King of Kala Wewa
Died
27 November 2024
Age / size
45–50
Where
Kala Wewa, Kahalla-Pallekele
ElectrocutedCommunity account
True to his name, “long-tusked”, his tusks reached almost to the ground. He ruled Kala Wewa and Kahalla-Pallekele, the dream subject of wildlife photographers.
He died after walking into an illegal wire a farmer had strung around a paddy field and connected directly to the main power line. He died on the spot. The post-mortem recorded heart failure. The landowner was arrested, but Deeghadanthu will not come back.
Check: The Island reported on 2 December 2024 that the death of a tusker in the area had sparked serious conservation concerns. We have not yet confirmed the name in a news report.
One tusk had broken and only the other remained, so people called him “Unicorn”. That flaw was what made him so striking. He was the favourite of jeep drivers and tourists in Minneriya and Kaudulla.
His body was found in the Katukeliyawa forest, where he had been shot and left. Someone had tried to cut out his tusk. The killing is suspected to have been for ivory.
Check: Details come from the community account. No news report has been matched yet.
Everyone in the Nikaweratiya and Andiyagala forests knew the name Bhathiya, not for his height or his presence but for his gentleness. Villagers say he never troubled a crop or a person.
A hunter’s bullet struck his foreleg. He walked the forest with the wound for months, running away whenever wildlife vets came to treat him.
On 14 July, weakened, he fell into a pit. Doctors worked for 24 hours to save him, but poisoning from the infected wound stopped his heart. Nobody had taken his tusks. That alone says something about how harmless he was.
Check: Confirmed: Ada Derana, The Morning and Daily News reported that Bhathiya died on the morning of 15 July 2025 in Polpithigama while being treated. News reports put the gunshot wounds at about two months old; the community account says he was shot in late 2024.
Kavanthissa. Photo: Shared by supporters; photographer to be credited.
11 / 11 · 16 Oct 2026
Kavanthissaකවන්තිස්ස — ගල්ගමුවේ යෝධයා
The giant of Galgamuwa
Died
16 October 2026
Age / size
50–60 · about 11 ft
Where
Galgamuwa, Siyambalangamuwa
ShotConfirmed in news
Sri Lanka’s tallest living wild tusker. He was shot in the right foreleg in September 2026 and treated for three weeks. On 16 October he collapsed in a paddy field near Siyambalangamuwa and died.
Seeing him fall brought back every king on this page.
Check: See “What happened” above for the full sourced record.
Also remembered: Dala Puttuwa of Galgamuwa, shot by poachers in November 2017 (his tusks were recovered in Polpithigama and nine suspects were detained); Chandi, the one-tusked bull, fatally injured in a fight with another tusker in 2024; and Walagamba, named with Barana and Revatha among the Kala Wewa tuskers lost.
The numbers
Every year, hundreds more
elephants died in 2023, the worst year on record
488
elephant deaths a year on average since 2019, the world’s highest
402
people killed by elephants a year on average since 2019
138
of about 7,451 wild elephants live outside protected areas
70%
Sources: Department of Wildlife Conservation; Reuters, October 2026.
Elephant deaths per year
4882023
≈3872024
397*2025
* 2025 counted to mid-December. Totals: 1,466 deaths in 2015–2019 and 2,011 in 2020–2024. Source: DWC.
How they died in 2025 (known causes)
Shot71
Electrocuted56
Hit by trains46
Hakka patas20
Poisoned2
Hakka patas are explosives hidden in food. Other causes include drowning and falls into abandoned wells. Source: DWC via Ceylon Today, December 2025.
Sudan with his guards, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya. Photographer to be credited.
Sudan was the last male northern white rhino on Earth. Poachers had wiped out his kind for their horn, so Kenya kept him in a protected area with armed rangers beside him 24 hours a day. He died in March 2018, aged 45. Only two northern white rhinos are left, both female.
A supporter who first wrote about Sudan years ago shared the post again after Kavanthissa died. The fear is simple: if Sri Lanka waits until only a hundred wild elephants remain, it too will have to put soldiers beside every one.
ඉස්සරහට අපට අලි, ඇත්තු බලන්න වෙන්නේ ෆොටෝ වලින් විතරයි.A supporter’s post, shared again in October 2026
The documentary
Kavanthissa: The Silenced Giant
A documentary in seven chapters, being written now. Read it here, and watch footage already published.
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Forever Kavanthissa · සදා කවන්තිස්ස
Light a candle
One candle for each person who remembers him, and the kings who went before him.
—
candles lit
Campaign seal. Digital artwork, not a photograph of Kavanthissa.
Justice for one, protection for all
What we are asking for
Investigate the shooting and publish the findingsFind who fired the shot or set the trap gun, release the post-mortem, and bring charges where the evidence supports them.වෙඩි තැබීම ගැන පූර්ණ විමර්ශනයක් කර ප්රතිඵල ප්රසිද්ධ කරන්න
Remove illegal trap guns and electric wiresMost deaths on this page came from a bullet or an illegal wire tapped from the mains.නීති විරෝධී උගුල් තුවක්කු සහ විදුලි රැහැන් ඉවත් කරන්න
Declare iconic tuskers living national heritageSpecial legal status and protection units for named tuskers, as the Society for Conservation of Wild Elephants proposes.දළ ඇතුන් ජීවමාන ජාතික උරුමයක් ලෙස ප්රකාශ කරන්න
Stop clearing their forestsForest cover has fallen from about 70% in the 1920s to about 34% today, pushing elephants into villages.වනාන්තර එළි කිරීම නවත්වන්න
Support the people who live with elephantsFund fences that work, early warning and alternative livelihoods, so farmers are partners in protection.අලි සමඟ ජීවත් වන ජනතාවට සහාය දෙන්න
What you can do · අපිට මොකද කරන්න පුළුවන්?
1992Report an illegal electric wireCall the wildlife department’s 24-hour hotline. Do not go near it and do not stop to photograph it.
1992Report a gunshotIf you hear shooting near elephant areas, tell the hotline or the nearest wildlife office.
ShareShare this storyA farmer in the village and a child in the city should both know what a tusker is worth.
Today Bhathiya is gone. Only we can stop the next Kavanthissa from being lost. ඔවුන් නැතිව වනාන්තර පාලුයි. ඔවුන්ව රැකගමු.
Campaign posters
Posters to share
Kavanthissa posters use photographs of Kavanthissa only. “The kings we lost” uses each tusker’s own photo. Open a poster for the full-size PNG, then save it from your browser.
