Sri Lanka human-elephant conflict kills hundreds of people and elephants

GALGA MUWA, Sri Lanka: A wild elephant once wandered into wildlife officer Dewagiri Mudiyanselage Thilakaratne Bandara’s backyard to eat mangoes. The encounter left him with a broken leg and dislocated shoulder, while his wife lost her right leg after being trampled while rushing to help him.

Today, the couple’s lives have been transformed by an incident that reflects a growing crisis across Sri Lanka, where shrinking forests are forcing humans and wild elephants into increasingly dangerous encounters.

Bandara, 48, now helps care for his wife, Rathnayake Mudiyanselage Shirani Rathnayake, who uses a wheelchair and a prosthetic leg. The couple, who once worked together in their fields and shared daily household responsibilities, must now navigate a life shaped by physical injuries and emotional strain.

“Our lives are now completely different from before the elephant attack,” Bandara told Reuters. “My wife and I used to do everything together. We used to farm together.”

The tragedy is far from isolated. Since 2019, an average of 138 people have been killed annually in encounters with elephants in Sri Lanka, giving the country the world’s second-highest human death toll from such conflicts. Elephant deaths have averaged 402 a year over the same period, the highest figure globally.

The crisis is particularly acute around Galgamuwa, in the island’s northwest, where villages and agricultural land increasingly overlap with elephant habitats.

Shrinking forests bring elephants closer to homes

Bandara spends much of his working day maintaining a 14-kilometre electric fence along the Siyambalangamuwa reservoir. The barrier is intended to protect more than 2,000 nearby families from elephants living in the surrounding forest.

But the fence offers only limited protection when animals break through in search of food.

Bandara said the situation had changed dramatically over the past two decades as forests near the reservoir were cleared.

“When we were little, we had to go to a corner of the tank to see elephants. Now, in the nights, the elephants come to see us,” he said.

Sri Lanka’s forest cover has fallen from approximately 70 per cent in the 1920s to around 34 per cent today, according to World Bank data. As natural habitats shrink, elephants increasingly enter villages and farmland, where crops and household fruit trees offer an accessible source of food.

The country’s latest census puts its wild elephant population at an estimated 7,451, a 27 per cent increase from a decade earlier. As many as 70 per cent of the animals live outside protected areas, increasing the likelihood of encounters with people.

Elephants face deadly consequences too

The conflict is devastating for wildlife as well as rural communities.

Sri Lanka recorded a record 488 elephant deaths in 2023, according to its Department of Wildlife Conservation. Animals have been shot, poisoned or electrocuted, while others have died in train accidents or after falling into wells.

Some are killed by explosive devices known locally as “Hakka Patas”, which can be concealed in food and cause catastrophic injuries when bitten.

Despite the danger, elephants hold a special place in Sri Lankan culture. They feature prominently in religious processions, while elephant-related attractions contribute to the country’s tourism industry, valued at around $4 billion.

This cultural significance makes the growing toll especially painful, highlighting the challenge of protecting both rural livelihoods and a treasured species.

Sri Lanka’s forest cover has plummeted from roughly 70% in the 1920s to about 34% today, World Bank data shows, and as many as 70% of Sri Lanka’s estimated 7,451 wild elephants live outside protected areas. “Twenty years ago, we didn’t have this situation because across from the tank there were large forests, but they were eventually cleared and then the elephants started moving closer,” wildlife officer Dewagiri Mudiyanselage Thilakaratne Bandara said. “When we were little, we had to go to a corner of the tank to see elephants. Now, in the nights, the elephants come to see us.”

Villagers change their lives to stay safe

Communities in affected areas have adapted their routines to minimise the risk of encounters.

In Bandara’s village, a nearby school delays lessons by 30 minutes beyond the nationally mandated 7:30am start to reduce the risk of children encountering elephants early in the morning.

Farmers finish work earlier to reach home before dark, while weddings and funerals are scheduled with elephant movements in mind.

Bandara and his neighbours also use a WhatsApp group to share information about elephants moving near their homes. When animals approach villages, residents sometimes gather to drive them away by shouting and setting off firecrackers. They also help transport injured people to hospital.

Bandara believes the long-term solution must include an end to indiscriminate forest clearing and a serious commitment to reforestation.

A wildlife officer refuses to blame the animal

For Bandara, the consequences of the conflict are deeply personal. His wife’s injuries have changed their daily lives, and both continue to cope with the emotional burden of the attack.

Yet he refuses to see the elephant as the enemy.

“I do not feel any hatred towards the animal or any animal. He was hungry because of the activities of us humans,” he said.

“I see this situation more as karma that my wife and I must endure. What will I get by hating that animal? He is innocent.”

His words capture the painful contradiction at the heart of Sri Lanka’s human-elephant conflict: animals searching for food can devastate human lives, while people struggling to protect their families and livelihoods can become a deadly threat to wildlife.

As forests continue to shrink and settlements expand, preventing further tragedies will require more than electric fences and emergency patrols. Protecting habitats, restoring forests and finding safer ways for people and elephants to coexist are becoming increasingly urgent.