Sri Lanka records high number of human-elephant conflicts March 1st, 2025

Photo by Pixabay/Elephants family

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Sri Lanka records high number of human-elephant conflicts

Sri Lanka vowed on Thursday to urgently tackle costly clashes between residents and wild elephants, after recording the deaths of nearly 1,200 people and more than 3,500 animals in a decade.

Environment Minister Dammika Patabendi told parliament that more electrified fences would be built and that additional staff would be deployed to help reduce elephant attacks on villages near wildlife sanctuaries.

“We are allocating more money to reduce the conflict between humans and elephants and we hope that in a short period, we can mitigate the situation,” said Patabendi.

Between 2015 and 2024, 1,195 people and 3,484 wild elephants were killed, he said.

In January this year, three more people and 43 elephants were killed.

Opposition lawmaker Nalin Bandara said the death toll was “shocking” and called on the authorities to protect people while ensuring that wild animals were not harmed.

He noted that the disposal of wild elephant carcasses had cost the state around US$11.6 million over a decade, while compensation to victims of elephant attacks amounted to around US$4 million over the same period.

Killing or injuring elephants is a criminal offense in Sri Lanka, which has around 7,000 wild elephants, considered a national treasure, partly due to their importance in Buddhist culture.

However, the slaughter continues as desperate farmers fight the elephants that attack their crops and destroy their livelihoods.

Many elephants have been electrocuted, shot, and poisoned. Sometimes fruit packed with explosives is used to injure the animals, often ending in painful deaths.

Elephants are also killed by trains passing through their habitats.

Seven elephants, including four calves, were killed when they were run over by an express train in the Habarana region, in the east of the island, a week ago. It was the worst accident of its kind recorded in the country.

Asian elephants are recognized as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

It is estimated that 26,000 of them live in the wild, mainly in India, surviving for an average of 60 to 70 years outside of captivity.

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