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Wild elephants grow to 7,000, tuskers decline

16 Sep 2022

BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) stated that the wild elephant population in Sri Lanka, which stood at around 5,600 in recent times, has now increased to more than 7,000, while the number of tuskers has however gone down. Speaking to The Morning, an official of the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation, noted that according to the latest calculations, the DWC has found out that the population of wild elephants in the country, which was around 5,600 during the last few years, has exceeded 7,000 at present. He said that at the same time, a decrease in the number of tuskers in the country has also been reported, adding that it has been revealed following the DWC's calculations that the number of tuskers in the country is 142. Meanwhile, following reports of nearly 350 wild elephants that used to roam around areas near the Minneriya, Girithale, and Parakrama Samudraya tanks have gone missing, Minister of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Mahinda Amaraweera has made an inquiry from the DWC in that regard. In response, they had then informed Amaraweera that as the said tanks were full of water throughout this year, a large number of wild elephants have migrated to other areas in search of food. Following a revelation that a total of 410 human deaths and 1,157 elephant deaths have been reported from January 2019, to April 2022, due to the human-elephant conflict, the Ministry recently stated that it is to complete the installation of electric elephant fences in all affected areas within the course of next year.  An official of the Ministry said at that time, that it was revealed that the human-elephant conflict in 131 Divisional Secretariat Divisions, within 19 districts, had resulted in 407 elephant deaths and 122 human deaths in 2019, 328 elephant deaths and 112 human deaths in 2020, 375 elephant deaths and 142 human deaths in 2021, and 47 elephant deaths and 34 human deaths in the first four months of 2022.  


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