Sri Lanka’s elephants in peril and the fight for survival

SRI Lanka’s elephants, long revered as cultural icons and ecological guardians, are facing one of the most serious declines in their recorded history. Once numbering well over 12,000 in the early 20th century, the population has now dwindled to between 6,000 and 7,000 individuals.

- By Tharanga Gunawardena

Sri Lanka's gentle giants deserve nothing less than a future where they thrive alongside its people

In its 2024 census, the Department of Wildlife Conservation recorded just 420 elephant calves, underscoring a troubling decline in birth rates. Even more alarming is the mortality rate. In the first seven months of 2025 alone, 238 elephants were lost, underscoring the severity of the crisis. If this rate continues, the total number of deaths by year’s end would be among the highest ever recorded. Over the past 24 years, over 6,400 elephants have died, averaging over 260 deaths each year.

The decline is driven primarily by human activity. Expanding agriculture and infrastructure have fragmented elephant habitats, while commercial developments such as luxury hotels and unauthorised religious structures have increasingly obstructed traditional migration corridors. These pathways, once vital for elephants moving between feeding and watering grounds, are now disappearing under the pressure of land conversion and construction. When elephants lose access to these pathways, they are forced into farmland, leading to crop raids and escalating human-elephant conflict. The consequences are devastating. Elephants are killed in retaliation, often through cruel methods such as hakka patas, explosive devices hidden in food that cause slow and painful deaths. At the same time, human lives are lost, creating deep mistrust between rural communities and conservation authorities. Blocking corridors not only increases crop invasions but also isolates herds, reducing genetic diversity and threatening long-term survival.