A History of Coexistence
A Present of Conflict
By Thivanka Vithanage,
MSc Environmental Sustainability & Green Technology student
In Sri Lanka, the annual number of fatalities, deforestation rates, and compensation paid are frequently used to quantify human-elephant conflict( HEC).
But behind every statistic is a distraught farmer, a bereaved family, or a fallen elephant discovered in a field at first light.
A composite image showing human injury( Left), Community reliance on electric fencing( top right) and a killed elephant( bottom right) sources: New Line Magazine( 2014)
Living with Conflict as a Daily Reality
Sri Lanka is home to nearly 10 % of the world’ s Asian Elephants within just 2 % of their global range. Around 70 % of elephant habitat now lies outside protected areas.
Coexistence is inevitable in the Dry Zone due to the overlap of roadways, farming communities, irrigation systems, and forest fragments. This is not a distant conservation issue. It unfolds in home gardens, paddy fields, and rural streets.
For many rural communities, conflict is not an event. It is a routine. Night after night, farmers guard crops with torches and firecrackers. Children hear the sound of firecrackers as they grow older. Sleep breaks up. You become accustomed to fear.
Climate Change and Intensifying Pressures
Climate change intensifies this tension. Long-term droughts cause protected habitats to lose water and feed, which forces elephants to move into irrigated agriculture. Conflict peaks during dry seasons and harvest time. It is not random. It is structured.
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