Lungs and heart of elephant Seetha not injured – Prof. Dangolla

Peradeniya University’s Veterinary Department Senior Professor Dr. Ashoka Dangolla said that the elephant named Seetha had been shot at using live bullets and not rubber bullets and these bullets had pierced the skin and travelled distances of one to three centimeters through to the body and that these bullets were visible during scans and x-rays done.

He said that there were eight wounds visible on the surface of the elephant’s skin and parts of bullets were seen in seven of them.The Professor said that since the elephant had been shot non-stop it was possible for a bullet to travel through an existing wound. It is suspected that bullets had entered the chest cavity of female elephant. He emphasised the fact that this country does not possess an x-ray machine of a quality good enough to observe whether the bullets had gone into the thoracic cavity.

Although the Police had said that this shooting had been carried out using rubber bullets, Prof.Dangolla who said that rubber bullets do not pierce the skin in this manner and enter the body. He is guessing that the lungs and heart of the animal have not sustained even a minor injury.

He also said that, if that had happened, the behaviour of the elephant, Seetha would have been quite different.

Prof. Dangolla said that the female is not in a good condition to undergo surgery for the removal of the bullets, when considering the present circumstances and a final decision has to be made subsequent to a discussion with all groups including the owner of the elephant.

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