There is no dearth of clout-chasers on the internet, especially TikTok. A case in point, is a person who tried to scare away an elephant by driving his vehicle too close to the wild animal, while recording the entire incident. The disturbing video from Sri Lanka has left netizens fuming. The TikTok video, posted by the user @shashikagimhandha, shows the moment when the driver chanced upon a wild elephant on a road at night. Instead of waiting for the animal to pass, the driver charged towards it in a teasing manner and shining the vehicle’s strong headlight at it. Visibly scared, the animal begins to back off but the person kept driving towards it even as the hapless creature kept trumpeting in distress and tried to seek refuge behind a tree. It didn’t take long for the video to trigger an outcry online after Poorna Seneviratne (@PoornaSenev) shared it on Twitter. “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,” Seneviratne wrote. “DO NOT endanger and disturb wildlife for stupid social media views,” he added online, tagging important personalities as well as the official handles of authorities. 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 Seneviratne (@PoornaSenev) February 3, 2022 Soon, netizens too condemned the video and sought action against the person in question. In a joint effort that followed, people dug out the perpetrator’s Facebook profile and also revealed the jeep’s number while tagging the police. Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka (WNPSSL) wrote on Twitter that all details of the incident have been submitted to the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) for action. 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,” Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardena wrote on Twitter. “Absolutely unacceptable behaviour. People like this should be black listed and banned from entering any parks or wild spaces,” another user wrote online. Not the first time this has happen in SL and it’s time we stop this playful behaviour.. let the animals live peacefully. — 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 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 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 True. I wonder if that new animal welfare bill can be enacted. I'm so tired of seeing animals in places like this and Yala being exploited like this. — PaniKiribath (@PaniKiribath) February 3, 2022 Harassment of wild animals and showing on social media. These disgusting people should be hunted and punished 😡 — neetwit (@Neetwit) February 3, 2022 Human cruelty knows no bounds . sad to see this 😥 — Atanu Chakraborty (@atanu_ch1) February 4, 2022
