* Famous tusker passes away in Sri Lanka
Wed, Aug 3, 2011, 06:17 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Aug 03, Kandy: Millangoda Raja, a famous tamed elephant of Sri Lanka passed away today after an illness. The elephant was 60 years old at the time of its death.
The animal was recorded as having the longest tusks in Asia. His tusks were 8 feet long.
Millangoda Raja carried the sacred casket of tooth relic in the Kandy Buddhist Perahera. The tusker was well respected by the Buddhists of Sri Lanka.
Significantly, the death occurred as the world famous cultural festival Kandy Perahera was about to begin this year.
Sri Lanka is facing a severe shortage of tamed elephants for cultural pageants. The number of tamed elephants is dwindling fast in the island and the owners of tamed elephants are requesting the government to redress the problem.