In a heart-wrenching incident, the corpse of a wild elephant was discovered in Habarana forest reserve in the Anuradhapura District of Sri Lanka on June 16.

The elephant is believed to be a victim of Hakka Patta, an explosive-laden food fed to elephants

Distressing footage shows the fly-infested corpse of the 10-year-old elephant lying in the middle of the forest. Forest officials can also be seen inspecting the mouth of the elephant.

Hakka Pata is a mixture of explosives usually hidden in vegetables and blows-up in the animal’s mouth upon consumption, leading to a slow and painful death.

According to local reports, the elephant corpse was discovered by a traveller who alerted forest department officials.

According to the officials, the elephant died of injuries sustained because of the Hakka Pata.

The tusks were also reportedly torn apart by the poachers.

A post mortem examination of the dead elephant was carried out by the Veterinary Surgeon of Anuradhapura Chandana Jayasinghe.

Although the island is home to fewer than 6,000 Sri Lankan elephants, a subspecies of the Asian elephant, the loss of their habitats, and the expansion of human settlements have intensified human-elephant conflicts.