By Ifham Nizam

More than half of the elephants that lost their lives in the country were killed for the sake of killing them, said Environmental Scientist Hemantha Withanage, adding that they were killed like rats.

Speaking at a stakeholder meeting at the Hector Kobekaduwa Research Centre in Colombo yesterday to submit “A Proposal to Mitigate Human-Elephant Conflict in Sri Lanka”, Withanage said that the sole aim of the proposals should be to protect the elephants while making sure no injustice was caused to the farmers.

He said that introducing farmers’ insurance schemes would be of paramount importance while also promoting sustainable agriculture.

Withanage strongly criticised people with political connections being the biggest problem for the Department of Wildlife, in controlling illegal activities in the elephant corridors.

While pointing out that more than 400 elephant deaths take place annually, he said a tragic incident took place in 2019, where seven elephants belonging to the same herd were found dead at Hiriwadunna reserve in Habarana which drew immediate attention of the public.

Legal action was initiated to investigate the incident and advocate for justice. As per the request by the Court of Appeal, the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) conducted a rigorous public consultation process with the aim of finding solutions to Mitigate human-elephant conflict.

In 2022, there were 443 elephant and 145 human deaths due to the increasing conflict between humans and elephants in Sri Lanka.

Almost 90% of elephant deaths are caused by human activities. Asian elephant (Elephas maximus maximus) is classified as an endangered species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) Red Data Book in 2021. Due to the estimated 50% decrease in Asian elephant population over the last three generations and the rapid reduction in the extent of their habitat, Asian elephants have drawn the attention of conservationists from all over the world.

The current distribution of elephants in Sri Lanka is mainly in the dry zone, which comprises 60% of the island, and very limited in the wet zone (Sinharaja Biosphere Reserve and Adam’s Peak Sanctuary).

Majority of the protected areas in the country are situated in the dry zone, however, elephant home range extends beyond the national parks.

Based on the results of an elephant census carried out in 2011, Sri Lanka is home to about 5,787 elephants. An accurate and reliable data is not available after 2011.