July 13, Colombo: Sri Lankan authorities have banned the use of cell phone in the country’s most visited Yala National Park to prevent wildlife getting killed by the speeding vehicles government’s department of wildlife conservation said in a statement announcing the ban.
The safari park banned the use of cell phones Monday to stop leopards and other wildlife being killed by speeding vehicles which have been tipped off about their whereabouts, an AFP report said.
According to the report, park rangers in recent months have found the bodies of several animals that have been run over by vehicles.
When a leopard or another interesting animal is spotted by one guide, the others will also be notified of the spot rapidly through cell phones and the other guide vehicles rush to the location flouting park traffic laws.
According to a statement by the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the telecommunications regulator had agreed to switch off mobile phone coverage within the park during peak visitor times.
Yala National Park is the country’s second largest park and home to the world’s highest concentration of leopards and large numbers of elephants, bears and deer.
It attracts more than 100,000 foreign tourists each year and is a key source of revenue to the government.
