Abstract:
There is a strong cultural bond between
the Sri Lankan people and elephants
that dates back more than 5,000 years.
Domesticated elephants were used in religious
activities, transportation, construction and
even in warfare. Even though, there were
no records of any conflicts between humans
and wild elephants in the past, with the
implementation of the accelerated Mahaweli
project in 1978, human-elephant conflict (HEC)
in dry-zone of Sri Lanka became a major issue.
In Sri Lanka, the HEC can be demonstrated
to be a social problem because it possesses
nearly all the defining characteristics of a
social problem. Consequently, this conflict has
direct and indirect effects on society and the
environment. Both humans and elephants have
lost their freedom to live. From an ecological perspective, elephants are
considered to be a ‘keystone species’ in the
ecosystems they inhabit, as they maintain the
vegetation structure and biodiversity. They
also play a role as an ‘umbrella species’. Thus
conservation of elephants will automatically
ensure the conservation of other species that
co-exist in the same habitat. However, a review
of Sri Lanka’s recent past demonstrates that the
expanding human population and diminishing
forest cover provide a systematic threat to
the survival of elephants. Further, Sri Lankan
governments’ agrarian economic policies have
contributed significantly to the destruction of
elephant habitat and their ancient wilderness,
as well as the escalation of human-elephant
conflict.
