Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa told Parliament on Thursday that ‘Mahasen’ — believed to be the tusker with the largest tusks in Sri Lanka — has gone missing.

Premadasa said the animal had been ranging the Maradankadawala area and moving at times to Ritigala, Kantale, Kaudulla, Minneriya and Somawathiya, the Daily Mirror reported from Colombo. He said Mahasen was believed to carry larger tusks than the late tusker Kavantissa, shot dead on 16 October.

He called on the government to introduce a comprehensive programme to protect tuskers, drawing on the Civil Defence Force, the Special Task Force and the armed forces.

He named this animal three days ago

The request is not new, and that is what gives the disappearance its weight. On 19 October, Premadasa launched a conservation body in Kavantissa’s name and proposed a special protection unit for prominent tuskers, naming exactly two animals: Mahasen and Agbo. One of the two is now unaccounted for.

Earlier on Thursday, the group Wild Tuskers of Sri Lanka named 13 elephants it says need urgent protection, with Agbo among the most critical. Its list includes an animal rendered “Mahasena”. This desk cannot confirm from either filing whether that is the same tusker under a variant transliteration, and does not assume it.

What the government told the same Parliament

On the same day, Environment Minister Dr Dammika Patabendi tabled a written answer on elephant protection, in reply to a question from MP Prof L.M. Abeywickrama. It reports 5,787.89 km of electric fencing along wildlife reserve boundaries covering elephant corridors and surrounding areas, and Rs. 618.89 million spent in 2025 on construction, maintenance, equipment, personnel allowances and fuel. A Cabinet-approved 27-member committee has been appointed on the human-elephant conflict.

That answer concerns fencing and does not address Mahasen, the Opposition Leader’s demand, or any individual animal. It is cited here for the figures it supplies, not as confirmation of the disappearance.

Not reported

The Daily Mirror gives no circumstances for the disappearance: no date it was last sighted, no indication whether the Department of Wildlife Conservation is searching, and no statement on whether foul play is suspected. It does not say who established that Mahasen is missing, or on what evidence the claim about tusk size rests. No government response to Premadasa’s statement is reported.

The disappearance is single-sourced. NewsFirst and Hiru had not filed on it at the time of writing, and searches of the Island, Daily FT, EconomyNext and Colombo Gazette returned nothing. Ada Derana could not be checked — its site has returned HTTP 403 to this desk for 34 consecutive days.

Update (23 October): the Wildlife Department responds — three months unseen, but no sign of harm

The government reaction missing from Thursday’s account arrived on Friday. A senior Department of Wildlife Conservation official, responding directly to Premadasa’s statement in Parliament, said the tusker’s absence does not necessarily mean something has happened to it, the Daily Mirror reported.

Three of the gaps recorded below are now closed. Mahasen has not been seen for three months — the first period attached to the disappearance by any filing. Wildlife officers have received no information suggesting anything untoward has happened to the animal. And the department’s position is that wild elephants travel several kilometres a day, alone or in herds, rather than staying within designated areas, and that individual animals can drop out of sight for months before being spotted again.

The official also set out, unusually bluntly, why the department is not tracking Mahasen:

“Following the death of the tusker Kavantissa, and amid the emotional posts and videos shared on social media, people have become very sensitive about elephants. The Wildlife Department alone cannot attend to every animal, including elephants, based on individual concerns at all times. We have limited staff, and it is not practical to constantly follow elephants.”

The armed forces Premadasa asked for have in fact been deployed — but to rescue work, not to a search. Following a request from the Ministry of Environment, security forces including the Tri-Forces are now assisting wildlife officers in rescuing distressed elephants in several parts of the country, Mahasen among those named. The Daily Mirror describes field support, protection for wildlife officers and strengthened joint operations in areas affected by human-elephant conflict. No filing describes any operation directed at locating Mahasen specifically.

Three current rescue cases are named: an elephant calf taken from Wewelketiya, Anuradhapura to the Pandulagama Veterinary Unit and then the Udawalawe Elephant Transit Home; a distressed elephant of about seven years in the Gallella and Manikkampattiya areas of Polonnaruwa; and a distressed calf at Sammanthurai.

A separate Daily Mirror filing gives the calf transfer in more detail and dates it to Thursday 22 October, placing the animal in the Wevelketiya area of Medawachchiya — within Anuradhapura district, so consistent with the first account, though the spelling differs between the two filings. It names the treating team as regional veterinary officer Dr. Sameera Kalingu Arachchi of the Girithale Wildlife Veterinary Unit and veterinary surgeon Dr. Dinusha de Silva, with officers from the Polonnaruwa Wildlife Office.

The “Mahasena” question is still open. Friday’s official response uses Mahasen throughout, while the Wild Tuskers list carried the same day continues to render its entry Mahasena. Neither filing links the two, and this desk still does not assume they are the same animal.

What is still missing

The response is an official one, but it is not a search report. No filing says when or where Mahasen was last confirmed sighted, who established that it was missing, whether the department has made any attempt to verify its whereabouts, or whether it accepts Premadasa’s claim about the tusk size. The official is not named. Both Friday filings come from the same newsroom, so the disappearance itself remains uncorroborated by any second verified outlet.