Kawanthissa

Wild in Galgamuwa, Kurunegala

3.35m

Height

5.45t

Weight

Estimated

1.85m

Tusks

Most reports say over 6 ft

Regarded as the largest and tallest wild tusker in Sri Lanka, and in five decades among villages and paddy fields never known to have harmed anyone. Treated from 24 September 2026 for a suspected gunshot wound to his right front leg, he stopped eating as the wound healed, collapsed in a paddy field near Siyambalangamuwa and died on 16 October 2026.

Born

Unknown

Died

16 October 2026

Estimated age

50–60

Also written

Kavantissa

First recorded

2008

Named

2015, after King Kavan Tissa, father of King Dutugemunu

Rose to fame

2012, after the death of the Siyambalangamuwa tusker

Range

Galgamuwa, Usgala, Ambanpola and Siyambalangamuwa

Injury

Suspected gunshot wound to the right front leg, treated from 24 September 2026

Place of death

Paddy field near Siyambalangamuwa