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A portent of things to come: Waiting to die in Uda Walawe-By Rohan Wijesinha Bull elephant with gunshot injuries  By the fence on New Year’s Day- Pic courtesy Madura Safari Uda Walawe  Source:FT A new year spells new beginnings and brings with it the hope of things better. This year, it dawned very differently at the Uda Walawe National Park. The officers of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) were on a mission of mercy.  A large bull elephant had been shot; the bone and muscle of the knee of his back left leg had been shattered. It had swollen to many times its normal size, and needed urgent treatment. The shooting had taken place outside of the Park, and the DWC officers had to entice this beautiful creature back into it, with food and elephant delicacies, to keep him safe from more human torture, and to try and treat ...