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Seven young elephants drown in Sri Lanka

Officials say the onset of the monsoon led to flooding in the elephant habitat in Dimbulagala, around 250 kilometres northeast of the capital, Colombo.

Wildlife authorities in Sri Lanka found seven carcasses of young elephants believed to have drowned in the biggest single loss of the animals in five years.

An official said Wildlife authorities in Sri Lanka on Sunday found seven carcasses of young elephants believed to have drowned in the biggest single loss of the animals in five years.

"We were alerted by villagers to three young elephants who had drowned last evening, but when we went to the marshy area we found four more," a regional wildlife official said.

He said autopsies would be carried out on the seven carcasses on Monday, but a preliminary investigation suggested that the animals had gotten bogged down in the marsh and drowned.

Ill-treated and emaciated, Tikiri the elephant dies in Sri Lanka

Dwindling population

Sri Lanka's wild elephant population has dwindled to just over 7,000, according to the latest official data, down from an estimated 12,000 at the beginning of the last century.

In 2019, seven elephants were similarly found dead in the north-central region of the country.

A year earlier in 2018, another seven drowned closer to the area where the latest deaths were reported.