Editorial photo #10063304 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 a human-elephant conflict is beginning due to humans clearing forests and building settlements. On May 20, 2023, a dog is eating parts of the dead body of an elephant in Habarana, Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan wild elephant, known by its scientific name Elephas maximus maximus, has lost its habitat due to this conflict. According to the Wildlife Department, over 7,000 elephants have been reported across Sri Lanka, and from January 1 to April 25, 2023, 114 elephant deaths have been reported. In the year 2022, 433 elephant deaths and 145 human deaths will have been reported due to this elephant-human problem, and 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, and they are also useful for the development of Sri Lanka's tourism industry, as they bring in a lot of foreign exchange.