Editorial photo #10063296 Disaster and Accident

Sri Lanka Is The Country With The Highest Number Of Elephant Deaths In The World

A man is holding a piece of severed ivory on May 20, 2023, in Habarana, Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan wild elephant, also known as Elephas maximus maximus by its scientific name, is reported to have over 7,000 across Sri Lanka according to the Wildlife Department. Humans have been clearing forests and building settlements, leading to the loss of elephants' habitats and causing them to frequently visit elephant villages. This has created an elephant-human conflict, with 433 elephant deaths and 145 human deaths reported in 2022 and 114 elephant deaths reported from January 1 to April 25, 2023. According to the Wildlife Department, 34 elephant deaths have been reported from Anuradhapura district, 29 from Polonnaruwa district, and 19 from Eastern Province so far in 2023. In the year 2023, 36 people are expected to die due to elephant-human conflict. Sri Lankans have had a long relationship with elephants, taming and using them for cultural and religious activities since ancient times. Elephants were even used for war by a king named Dutugemunu (101-77 BC), who used an elephant named Kandula to win a battle. Paintings of this war can be found in some of the old temples. Elephants are still widely used for Buddhist processions, such as the Kandy Dalada Perahera. They are also useful for the development of Sri Lanka's tourism industry, as many tourists come to Sri Lanka to see elephants, bringing in a lot of foreign exchange. The human-elephant conflict begins with the arrival of humans in the elephants' habitats.