Human-elephant conflict continues to take heavy toll; 219 jumbos and 89 people so far this year

By Ifham Nizam

The Department of Wildlife Conservation has recorded 219 jumbo deaths up to August 11 this year mainly from human-elephant conflict. During the same period, 89 people were killed in elephant attacks.

A Senior Department official told The Island that 160 elephant deaths and 56 human deaths had been recorded during the same period in 2020.

Biodiversity Conservation and Research Circle of Sri Lanka Convener Supun Lahiru Prakash, who is also one of the authorities on Sri Lankan elephants, told The Island that the number of deaths due to human-elephant conflicts was on the rise and alarming.

In 2020, 327 elephant deaths had been reported as against 113 human fatalities due to elephant attacks, he said.

The environmental scientist stressed that the human-elephant conflict had escalated recently and it was time the government implemented recommendations made by a team of experts, headed by eminent elephant researcher Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando.

“From 2016 to 2020, we have lost at least 1,578 elephants and the majority of them have died due to anthropogenic reasons. When compared with the 1992 – 2001 period, the present annual death rate of elephants shows about a 90 percent rise. This is a 30% increase when compared with the 2005–2010 period. It is the highest annual death rate of elephants in the world.”

A sharp decrease in the elephant home ranges and repeating the failed mitigation measures were among the factors that have led to an increase in the human-elephant conflict in the county, according to experts, Prakash said.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed a multi-stakeholder committee chaired by eminent elephant researcher Dr Prithiviraj Fernando to prepare the “National Action Plan for the Mitigation of Human-Elephant Conflict”, which was prepared and handed over to the government last December.

However, the government was yet to implement the proposal, Prakash said.