Editorial photo #10063300 Disaster and Accident

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

A large number of tourists are coming to Sri Lanka to see elephants as the human-elephant conflict begins on May 20, 2023 in Habarana, Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan wild elephant, also known as Elephas maximus maximus by its scientific name, has lost its habitat due to humans clearing forests and building settlements. As a result, they are used to visiting elephant villages frequently, leading to 433 elephant deaths and 145 human deaths reported in 2022 due to this elephant-human problem. From January 1 to April 25, 2023, 114 elephant deaths have been reported, with 34 reported from Anuradhapura district, 29 from Polonnaruwa district, and 19 from Eastern Province. In the year 2023, 36 people will have died due to elephant-human conflict. The Sri Lankan people's relationship with elephants goes back to the past, as they have used tamed wild elephants for their cultural and religious activities since ancient times. Even today, elephants are widely used for Buddhist processions, such as the Kandy Dalada Perahera. Elephants have been used by man since the days of the kings of Sri Lanka, through the Portuguese and Dutch eras, and since then to the present day. These wild and domesticated elephants are also useful for the development of Sri Lanka's tourism industry, as they bring in a lot of foreign exchange for the country.