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Human activities in Asia have reduced elephant habitat by nearly two-thirds since 1700

Published

3 years ago

2023/04/29

Although elephants can cross roads and other infrastructure, elephant habitats across Asia are increasingly hemmed in, with firm boundaries between human and wildlife spaces. These elephants are in Sri Lanka. Photo: Shermin de Silva

Despite their iconic status and long association with humans, Asian elephants are one of the most endangered large mammals, Down to Earth reported.Believed to number between 45,000 and 50,000 individuals worldwide, they are at risk throughout Asia due to human activities, such as deforestation, mining, dam building and road construction, which have damaged numerous ecosystems.

My colleagues and I wanted to know when human actions started to fragment wildlife habitats and populations to the degree seen today. We quantified these impacts by considering them through the needs of this species.

In a newly published study, we examined the centuries-long history of Asian landscapes that once were suitable elephant habitat and often were managed by local communities, prior to the colonial era.In our view, understanding this history and restoring some of these relationships may be the key to living with elephants, and other large wild animals, in the future.

How have humans affected wildlife?

It isn’t easy to measure human impacts on wildlife across a region as large and diverse as Asia and more than a century ago. Historical data for many species is sparse. Museums, for instance, only contain specimens collected from certain locations.

Many animals also have very specific ecological requirements, and there often isn’t sufficient data on these features, at a fine scale, going far into the past. For instance, a species might prefer particular microclimates or vegetation types that occur only at particular elevations.

For nearly two decades, I’ve been studying Asian elephants. As a species, these animals are breathtakingly adaptable: They can live in seasonally dry forests, grasslands or the densest of rain forests.

If we could match the habitat requirements of elephants to data sets showing how these habitats changed over time, we knew that we could understand how land-use changes have affected elephants and other wildlife in these environments.

Dramatic declines

Land-use patterns changed significantly on every continent, starting with the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s, and extending through the colonial era into the mid-20th century. Asia was no exception.

For most areas, we found that suitable elephant habitat took a steep dive around this time. We estimated that from 1700 through 2015 the total amount of suitable habitat decreased by 64 percent.

More than 1.2 million square miles (three million square kilometers) of land were converted for plantations, industry and urban development. With respect to potential elephant habitat, most of the change occurred in India and China, each of which saw conversion in more than 80 percent of these landscapes.

In other areas of Southeast Asia — such as a large hot spot of elephant habitat in central Thailand, which was never colonized — habitat loss happened more recently, in the mid-20th century. This timing corresponds to logging concurrent with the so-called Green Revolution, which introduced industrial agriculture to many parts of the world.

Could the past be the key to the future?

Looking back at land-use change over centuries makes it clear just how drastically human actions have reduced habitat for Asian elephants. The losses that we measured greatly exceed estimates of “catastrophic” human impacts on so-called wilderness or forests within recent decades.

Our analysis shows that if you were an elephant in the 1700s, you might have been able to range across 40 per cent of the available habitat in Asia with no problem, because it was one large, contiguous area that contained many ecosystems where you could live. This enabled gene flow among many elephant populations. But by 2015, human activities had so drastically fragmented the total suitable area for elephants that the largest patch of good habitat represented less than 7 per cent of it.

Sri Lanka and peninsular Malaysia have a disproportionately high share of Asia’s wild elephant population, relative to available elephant habitat area. Thailand and Myanmar have smaller populations relative to area. Interestingly, the latter are countries known for their large captive or semi-captive elephant populations.

Less than half of the areas that contain wild elephants today have adequate habitat for them. Elephants’ resulting use of increasingly human-dominated landscapes leads to confrontations that are harmful for both elephants and people.

However, this long view of history reminds us that protected areas alone are not the answer, since they simply cannot be large enough to support elephant populations. Indeed, human societies have shaped these very landscapes for millennia.

Today there is a pressing challenge to balance human subsistence and livelihood requirements with the needs of wildlife. Restoring traditional forms of land management and local stewardship of these landscapes can be an essential part of protecting and recovering ecosystems that serve both people and wildlife in the future.The Conversation. Down to Earth

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Tri-Forces donate LKR. 372 million, a day’s pay of all ranks to ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund

Published

4 hours ago

2026/01/3

Priyan

Members of all ranks from the Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Air Force have collectively donated a day’s basic salary to the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund, which was established to restore livelihoods and rebuild the country following the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.

Accordingly, the total contribution made by the Tri-Forces amounts to LKR. 372,776,918.28.

The cheques representing the financial contributions were handed over on Wednesday (31 December) at the Presidential Secretariat to the Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.

The donations comprised LKR. 250 million from the Commander of the Army, Major General Lasantha Rodrigo; LKR. 73,963,879.71 from the Commander of the Navy, Rear Admiral Kanchana Banagoda and LKR. 48,813,038.97 from the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Vasu Bandu Edirisinghe.

Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha, was also present on the occasion.

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CEB demands 11.57 percent power tariff hike in first quarter

Published

6 hours ago

2026/01/3

Thilina Walpola

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has submitted a proposal to the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) seeking an 11.57 percent increase in electricity tariffs for the first quarter of 2026, citing an estimated revenue shortfall and additional financial pressures, including cyclone-related damages.

According to documents issued by the PUCSL, the proposed tariff revision would apply to electricity consumption from January to March 2026 and includes changes to both energy charges and fixed monthly charges across all consumer categories, including domestic, religious, industrial, commercial and other users.

Under the proposal, domestic electricity consumers would face increases in unit rates as well as fixed monthly charges across all consumption blocks.

The CEB has estimated a deficit of Rs. 13,094 million for the first quarter of 2026, which it says necessitates the proposed 11.57 per cent tariff hike. The utility has noted that any deviation from this estimate whether a surplus or a shortfall will be adjusted through the Bulk Supply Tariff Adjustment (BSTA) mechanism and taken into account in the next tariff revision.

In its submission, the CEB said the proposed revision is aimed at ensuring the financial and operational stability of the power sector and mitigating potential risks to the reliability of electricity supply. The board-approved tariff structure for the first quarter of 2026 has been submitted to the PUCSL for approval and subsequent implementation, as outlined in Annex II of the proposal.

The CEB has also highlighted the financial impact of Cyclone Ditwah, which it said caused extensive damage to electricity infrastructure, with total losses estimated at around Rs. 20 billion. Of this amount, Rs. 7,016.52 million has been attributed to the first quarter of 2026, which the utility said has a direct bearing on electricity tariffs.

The CEB warned that if external funding is not secured to cover the cyclone-related expenditure, the costs incurred would need to be recovered through electricity tariffs in the second-quarter revision of 2026.

Meanwhile, the PUCSL has said that a decision on whether to approve the proposed tariff increase will be made only after following due regulatory procedures and holding discussions on the matter.

By Sujeewa Thathsara ✍️

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Health Minister sends letter of demand for one billion rupees in damages

Published

6 hours ago

2026/01/3

Thilina Walpola

Ondansetron controversy

Minister of Health and Mass Media Dr Nalinda Jayatissa has sent a letter of demand for Rs. 1 billion in damages from YouTube content creator Dharmasri Kariyawasam, accusing him of disseminating false and defamatory material linking the Minister to the importation of Ondansetron and inciting public unrest.

The notice, sent through the Minister’s lawyers, states that investigations are currently under way into 10 medicines, including Ondansetron Injection, manufactured by India-based Maan Pharmaceutical Limited.

Ondansetron Injection was among nine injectable drugs recently suspended by the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) following reports of patients administered with the drug suffering adverse complications.

Despite the ongoing investigations, Kariyawasam allegedly aired a widely viewed programme on his YouTube channel titled “The hidden story of the Indian drug that claimed lives, Mayor Balthazaar’s relative, and Minister Nalinda’s cover-up.”

According to the letter of demand, the programme falsely portrayed Minister Jayatissa as being directly responsible for importing the drug, colluding with the supplier, and attempting to conceal the issue, while depicting him as indifferent to public suffering.

The Minister’s lawyers maintain that these allegations are entirely false and defamatory, citing passages in which Kariyawasam allegedly accused Jayatissa of lying about the supplier, concealing facts related to PTC Medicals (Pvt) Ltd., the actual importer, and showing a lack of concern over deaths purportedly linked to the drug.

The programme also claimed links between the directors of PTC Medicals and family members of Colombo Mayor Vraîe Cally Balthazaar, implying political favouritism.