Due to elephant attacks:

More than 50 deaths reported annually

Shirley Wijesinghe

About 50-60 deaths are reported annually following elephant attacks, a Senior Official of the Wild Life Conservation Department told the Daily News.

Elephant deaths reported for various reasons have been between 150-170, he added.

According to 1993 statistics the elephant population in the country was about 3,500.

It was predicted that the figure may rise gradually increasing upto 6,000 in 2000, the official added.

Reported elephant deaths are gradually increasing in addition to deaths which were not reported from the forests of the North and East, he said.

According to the survey carried out by the Wild Life Department in the safe areas of the island in June 1993, 2000 elephants were identified in the wild in the five regions of the Northern, Southern, North Central, North Western and Mahaweli , he said.

Today the elephant population is between 3,160 and 4,405 in the country. About 2,000 -2,870 are from protected areas, he further said.

He said that the current figure of the number of elephants is hard to obtain because of difficulties in counting elephants in the scrub forest.

Therefore, the total elephant population of the country may be 5,000, he said.

In addition, the number of elephants in captivity too has declined from about 670 in 1955 to between 400-600 at present.

Explaining reasons for the sudden deaths of elephants, the study conducted by the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement of Sri Lanka has pointed out that in the 1960s, the forest cover in the country was 45 percent of the total area and was sufficient to feed the elephant population.

With the increase of the population and development projects, the forest cover,which is the habitat of the wild life had been acquired for human needs. Loss of their territory had forced the elephants to invade human settlements for their food.

People continue to attack elephants to protect their families and properties.