The elephant in the room

Due to the rise in human-elephant conflicts, the position of Asian elephants, namely those in Sri Lanka, is being undermined. Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) victims were trapped in a cycle of poverty even before the present economic crisis since repeated HEC effects ruined their farmlands and means of subsistence for which they have not received compensation. 

The victims’ rights, who were not consulted throughout decision-making processes, were not integrated into the solution of this problem.

The ineffectual and short-term measures used against HEC included extending electric fences and using other conventional techniques to drive away wild elephants. This is where the idea of environmental justice is revealed: Should only HEC victims suffer the effects of HEC while simultaneously working to preserve the populations of elephants for the benefit of present and future generations? 

Despite the Government’s inept and unsuccessful attempts to address HEC, the number of elephant and human deaths is rising as a result of the lack of solutions that adhere to the human rights principles of participation, accountability, non-discrimination, equality, empowerment and legality.

HEC keeps expanding while the Government continues to turn a blind eye to the rising number of elephant deaths as well as the destruction of human lives and livelihoods. A proper action plan is non-existent and the administration has no ambition to launch one together with professionals in the field. Any conservation strategy must not only focus on elephants but also on people, whose way of life and infrastructure must be safeguarded. 

The only answer is a comprehensive conservation strategy. We have so far been unable to build such a mechanism, in part due to the Government’s disinterest and inability to recognise that animal protection should be a scientific issue. Because of this, antiquated, ineffectual HEC prevention strategies like electric fences are still in use.

The seriousness of the causes of elephant fatalities has once again come up in conversation about conservation following the tragic death of ‘Barana’ from an illegal electrocution. The officials are unsure of who is in charge of the illegal electric post that claimed the life of the famous tusker, who perished in a national park close to private property. 

The owner of the nearby private land was among the three people who were detained, but the primary suspect, who is thought to be a Police officer, is still at large. This is a noteworthy instance of a non-scientific procedure leading to non-inclusive mitigation solutions for HEC.

We haven’t really thought much about how to encourage coexistence. Every time wildlife interacts with humans, such as when humans move into wildlife habitats or when wildlife moves into places where humans predominate, it can result in either conflicts or peaceful cohabitation. The idea that interactions between people and wildlife are inherently antagonistic is untrue. 

Inequality and intolerance are the most frequent obstacles to fostering cohabitation between humans and nature. Coexistence inequality refers to how unevenly people and animals around the world divide the expenses and rewards of coexisting. The degree of tolerance between humans and wildlife varies according to demographic factors including culture and awareness. These obstacles to peace are also present in Sri Lanka. 

The intricacy of nature makes it difficult to forecast the tipping point. But the danger zone has already been passed. Everyone has a responsibility to realise that it is time to stop biodiversity loss brought on by eradicating ecological mess-makers like elephants. 

We as a nation must set a goal of no elephant fatalities by the appropriate time period specified by experts based on all the data we now have, including the number of deaths experienced and the number of existing elephants in the country. It’s all about deeds, not promises; take action today or never.