Missaka was a 35-year-old tusker regarded as an icon of Yala National Park, with tusks about three feet long. He was found injured on 15 April 2018 near Bandu Wewa, close to the Ondaatje Bungalow in the Kataragama area, with a trap-gun wound above his left front leg and suspected gunshot wounds near his left eye. Despite about four days of treatment he died on 19 April 2018 from sepsis, and the Department of Wildlife Conservation launched a special investigation.