Sri Lanka has globally significant biodiversity that is currently threatened by deforestation, land degradation, and unregulated exploitation of natural resources. The animal most affected by these activities is the endangered Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus).

At the turn of the last century there were about 20,000 wild elephants. Today the number of elephants is estimated to be between 3,000-3,500 elephants. Considering 3 elephants have been killed on average every week for the past decade the current elephant population could be well below 3,000. The last island-wide census of elephants was done in the 1980s and the currently accepted estimate ‘fixed’ at ~3,500 could well be a guess.

Elephants face their biggest danger when they enter villages to raid crops. Within the past 10 years 1,261 elephants and 536 people have died as a result of this conflict. In the year 2001 alone, 162 elephants were killed and the main reason of death was gunshot injuries. That same year wild elephants killed 34 people. The human elephant conflict (HEC) today is one of the most pressing conservation problems in wildlife management in Sri Lanka.

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