ANURADHAPURA, Sri Lanka “He is a king without a crown.” This is how wildlife lovers refer to the majestic elephant Agbo, named after a king from an ancient kingdom of humans overlapping with some areas of Agbo’s home range in north-central Sri Lanka. Agbo is among the largest Sri Lankan tuskers, so there was […]
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Colombo, December 13
Sri Lanka has recorded the highest number of elephant deaths in the world due to the human-elephant conflict, according to a media report.
The island-nation’s Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) had ordered a special audit into the human-elephant conflict by renowned elephant expert Dr Prithviraj Fernando, the head of the Centre for Conservation and Research.
In a meeting of the COPA held recently, it was also disclosed that Sri Lanka ranked number two globally after India where highest number of human deaths were reported due to the human-elephant conflict, according to Daily News.
COPE Committee Chairman Tissa Vitarana said that in the past 12 months, the number of elephants killed in conflict with humans in Sri Lanka was 407 as against the previous annual average of 272. The number of people killed also increased from an average of 85 humans to 122 per year in the country.
Experts have blamed the phenomenon on a “human-animal conflict” and “inadequate” conservation efforts.
“Sri Lanka has recorded the highest number of elephants deaths in the world. This year, there were 409 elephants and 121 human deaths, respectively,” Dr. Prithviraj Fernando, a renowned elephant expert and head of the Center for Conservation and Research of Elephants, told Arab News.
He added that the death toll underwent a “drastic increase” from last year, when Sri Lanka reported 315 elephant deaths and 95 human deaths.
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, Minister of Wildlife and Forest Conservation C. B. Rathnayake said that he was “determined to put an end to the crisis.”
407 jumbos killed in SL in a yr, 2nd highest in world mid-day.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mid-day.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.