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Wild tusker · Galgamuwa

Galgamuwe Chandi

ගල්ගමුවේ චණ්ඩි கல்கமுவே சண்டி

Deceased

Galgamuwe Chandi
Sumudusoyza007 · CC BY-SA 4.0
A photo of a Sri Lankan Elephant — not this animal

Galgamuwe Chandi, also called Eka Danthaya (“the single-tusked one”), was a wild tusker from Ehetuwewa in the Galgamuwa area. Wildlife officials moved him away several times, to Somawathiya in 2009 and to the Horowpathana holding ground in 2015 and 2018, but he walked back home each time; in 2009 he covered about 243 km in 28 days. He became known for raiding villages for illicit liquor (kasippu). He died in July 2024 near Kaduru Wewa in Galgamuwa after a fight with another tusker.

Sources

  1. Problem elephants and problem humans — Daily News
  2. Will Lanka soon lose all its gentle giants? (Editorial) — Daily Mirror, 8 Jul 2024
  3. Meet the famous tuskers of Sri Lanka (Hesandi Ravisinghe) — Harbingers' Magazine, 3 Jul 2026