There is no shortage of clout-chasers on the internet, particularly on TikTok. One example is a person who attempted to scare an elephant away by driving too near to the wild animal while filming the entire episode. The shocking footage from Sri Lanka has enraged internet.
The TikTok video, submitted by user @shashikagimhandha, depicts the moment the vehicle came upon a wild elephant on a road late at night. Instead of waiting for the animal to pass, the driver charged at it, shining the vehicle’s powerful floodlight at it.
Visibly terrified, the animal begins to back off, but the guy continues to drive towards it, even as the helpless creature continues to trumpet in distress and attempts to seek sanctuary behind a tree.
After Poorna Seneviratne (@PoornaSenev) published the video on Twitter, it didn’t take long for it to spark an online outcry. “You need to be totally annihilated if you don’t have an ounce of brains to recognise that this is absolutely filthy and terrible,” Seneviratne added. “DO NOT risk and disturb wildlife for foolish social media views,” he said online, tagging prominent figures as well as official government handles.
If you don’t have an ounce of brains to not realize that this is absolutely disgusting and wrong, you need to be absolutely destroyed. DO NOT endanger and disturb wildlife for stupid social media views. It ain’t cool. This guy needs to be found and dealt with. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/R5SmMMWGNx
— Poorna 𝕏 MV1🦁🧡🏆🏆🏆🏆 (@PoornaSenev) February 3, 2022
When does our #wildlife get to celebrate their "Independence Day", free of human #harassment?
All details of the incident has been submitted DWC for action. pic.twitter.com/3YJTp0uYoM
— WNPSSL (@wnpssl) February 4, 2022
Not the first time this has happen in SL and it’s time we stop this playful behaviour.. let the animals live peacefully. https://t.co/hJScE7XY5t
— Mahela Jayawardena (@MahelaJay) February 4, 2022
Identify the animal here. What a pathetic behaviour. You go in your home & do this. Just for a tik-tok video. From Sri Lanka. Such people should be called out !! pic.twitter.com/587Y4auZhh
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) February 4, 2022
Harass an elephant and then post on Tiktok. If you are on Tiktok report this account and this behaviour. If the elephant hit the jeep it would have been blamed on the elephant. It's one thing to do something wrong, it's another level of stupidity to post it. pic.twitter.com/3paSHnoLUx
— Namal Kamalgoda (@Namalkamalgoda) February 3, 2022
The police should investigate the incident and take immediate legal action against the owner of the vehicle. @ReAdSarath pic.twitter.com/DoqrpYYDPA
— Kamila Dias (@KamilaWDias) February 3, 2022
The police should investigate the incident and take immediate legal action against the owner of the vehicle. @ReAdSarath pic.twitter.com/DoqrpYYDPA
— Kamila Dias (@KamilaWDias) February 3, 2022
Harassment of wild animals and showing on social media. These disgusting people should be hunted and punished 😡 https://t.co/2H5Pp3GXPg
— neetwit (@Neetwit) February 3, 2022
Human cruelty knows no bounds … sad to see this 😥
— Atanu Chakraborty (@atanu_ch1) February 4, 2022
Absolutely unacceptable behaviour. People like this should be black listed and banned from entering any parks or wild spaces
— Dr. Asha de Vos (@ashadevos) February 4, 2022
Soon after, people denounced the video and demanded that the individual in question be prosecuted. Following a collaborative effort, people discovered the perpetrator’s Facebook profile as well as the number of the jeep while tagging the police.
According to the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka (WNPSSL), the information of the occurrence have been given to the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) for action.
“Not the first time this has happened in SL and it’s time we stop this playful behaviour… let the animals live peacefully,” Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardena tweeted.
“This is completely inappropriate behaviour.” People like these should be blacklisted and barred from entering any parks or wild regions,” remarked another online user.
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