Poaching continues unabated at forest reserves of the Hambantota district, residents of the area said. They added that poachers set up traps with the use of cables or by poisoning small bodies of water from which wild animals quench their thirst. Residents said a body of a pregnant deer was discovered in the Panwewa area. It had been caught in a trap. Even wild elephants often fall prey to those traps, they added.
As such traps had also claimed the lives of cattle that stray into forest areas, the curd industry in the district currently faces hardships as well, they added. Poaching activities had been on the rise, owing to the high demand for wild animal meat from star-class hotels and restaurants in the district.