- Prioritising the lives of the Asian elephant
Wildlife has always played a large part in our country. From the magnificent wild boars that make our day to the much photographed Sri Lankan leopard, our fauna has never ceased to amaze us.
Yet, the most charismatic of our species, the Sri Lankan elephant, a sub species of the Asian elephant endemic to Sri Lanka, always manages to capture our attention and imagination the most.
“The Asian elephant is a magnificent animal,” Zoology and Environmental Sciences at the University of Colombo Professor Devaka Kirthi Weerakoon, said at a recent Public Lecture organised by the Sri Lanka Natural History Society l held on 14 May at the University of Colombo. “Yet, it is often at odds with human activity leading to the human-elephant conflict.”
Weerakoon noted that conservation strategies continue to rely on outdated assumptions instead of scientific evidence gathered over the last 30 years.
Why elephants need so much space
Weerakoon explained that elephants are built to consume enormous amounts of food. An adult elephant eats around 150 kilograms of plant matter every day and drinks roughly 120 litres of water. Because their digestive systems are inefficient, they spend nearly 16 hours a day feeding.
Unlike cows and deer, elephants are “hindgut fermenters.” Their digestive chamber is located at the rear of the digestive system, making them less efficient at extracting nutrients from plants. As a result, large amounts of undigested material pass through their bodies.
“They have a dual problem,” Weerakoon said. “They have big bodies so they need lots of food and their digestive system is not as efficient.”
He explained that elephants mainly feed on grasses and short-lived plants rather than mature forest vegetation. Forest trees often contain chemical defences that are difficult for herbivores to process. Secondary forests, abandoned farmland and grasslands provide the type of food elephants prefer.
How farming created elephant habitat
One of the lecture’s arguments was that traditional farming practices helped sustain Sri Lanka’s elephant population for centuries.
He described how shifting cultivation created a patchwork landscape of grasslands, secondary forests and abandoned farmland. These disturbed habitats became ideal feeding grounds for elephants.
“This is perhaps the main reason why we have such a high elephant density,” he said. “We have been creating their habitat for nearly 2,500 years.”
He argued that modern conservation policies failed to recognise this connection. Large protected areas were created for elephants but once farming activity stopped inside those parks, natural forest succession took over. Over time, grasslands disappeared and dense forest replaced them, reducing the amount of food available.
According to Professor Weerakoon, disturbed habitats can support one elephant per 33 hectares while mature forest may support only one elephant per five square kilometres.
Why protected areas alone do not work
Sri Lanka currently sets aside around 15 per cent of its land area for wildlife protection. However, Weerakoon said this approach cannot sustain the country’s elephant population.
“If you persist with this strategy, it’s not going to work,” he said.
Using radio collars and satellite tracking since 1995, researchers found that Asian elephants usually remain within fixed home ranges instead of travelling across long distances.
“They are very, very attached to a specific area that they are utilising year after year,” he said.
When food becomes scarce inside protected areas, elephants move into nearby farms and villages, leading to conflict.
The problem with elephant drives and translocations
Professor Weerakoon also noted elephant drives and translocations, methods commonly used to remove elephants from development areas.
He described the Lunugamvehera elephant drive, where officials attempted to push elephants into a national park before development projects began. Authorities expected around 60 elephants but ended up driving 225 animals into the park.
The operation created severe overcrowding and food shortages.
“Lots of animals eventually died,” he said. “We spent millions of rupees to drive herds which were not causing conflict into a park where they found slow starvation and death due to hunger.”
Research presented during the lecture showed that out of 17 monitored translocated elephants only three settled successfully. Many moved into new conflict zones while several were shot dead.
Electric fences and land use planning
Weerakoon said that electric fences are one of the few effective tools available when properly designed and maintained.
“The electric fence is a psychological barrier; not a physical barrier,” he said.
Elephants learn to avoid fences because they associate them with pain. However, fences fail when poorly placed or badly maintained.
He noted that there were many cases where fences are built between two forested areas rather than between wildlife habitat and human settlements.
“The elephant does not know administrative boundaries,” he said.
He also promoted seasonal electric fencing for paddy cultivation. Farmers can install temporary fences during growing seasons and remove them after harvest, allowing elephants to feed on leftover vegetation without entering villages.
A conflict that is getting worse
Despite millions being spent annually on elephant management, Weerakoon said the conflict continues to escalate.
Using data from the Department of Wildlife Conservation, he showed that both elephant deaths and human deaths have increased in recent years. Elephant deaths have nearly doubled over the past five years.
“What we really need to do, if we are serious about conserving the Asian elephant, is to solve the human-elephant conflict outside protected areas,” he said.
He argued that Sri Lanka still has time to protect its elephant population but only if policies are based on scientific evidence instead of outdated assumptions.
“We are repeating the same thing over and over again expecting that maybe tomorrow we will get a different result,” he said.