Police in Sri Lanka have arrested three men for allegedly burning a wild elephant with flaming torches while trying to chase it away, local media reported.
A video of the incident, which took place in a village in the country’s north, triggered fierce backlash as it circulated on social media this week.
Despite receiving treatment from veterinarians, the male elephant died on Tuesday.
The suspects, who were arrested on Thursday, are aged between 42 and 50, local media reported.
The male elephant was found with severe burns and a gunshot wound on its leg. It had also been treated by vets on several occasions earlier this year, local media reported.
The case has drawn sharp criticism among animal rights advocates and social media users.
A petition created on Thursday, demanding prosecution of the perpetrators and measures to prevent similar acts of cruelty, has garnered more than 400 signatures.
Elephants are considered sacred in Sri Lanka, where the majority of the population is Buddhist. Domesticated elephants are often part of religious ceremonies, as well as being a popular tourist attraction.
Killing an elephant in the country is an offence that can carry the death penalty, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
But increasing encounters between humans and elephants have proven deadly for both species.
Nearly 400 elephants have died so far this year, local media reported. An official told local outlet Daily Mirror that many of these deaths were caused directly by humans, and included shootings, train accidents, and the use of “jaw bombs”: an explosive bait used by farmers to protect their crops from wild animals.
More than 100 people were killed in elephant attacks in the same period.
