Poor humans a vital factor in conservation and management of wild elephants

The President as reported in the press has emphasised that finding a quick and durable solution to protect both humans and elephants is a national priority. 

As continuously being reported nowadays in the electronic and print media, we note with much grief and distress, the raging human-elephant conflict that is currently destroying the lives of poor humans and wild elephants in Sri Lanka. 

It is equally disturbing to witness the damage being done to property, harvest and laboriously cultivated plots of those helpless, poor people whose sole livelihood is farming. Their tales of woe deserve immediate attention of the authorities. The elephant-chasing crackers and electrical fences are fast becoming wasted investments in the face of these hungry, wily and wild elephants.

Last year, the Wildlife Conservation Dept. published a Policy Statement in the press on the above subject requesting public views and I promptly sent my views. I quote below, the relevant extracts which seem quite appropriate in the present context:

Policy statement – Item 5 – appears to be aiming at a long-term strategy to be achieved through scientific research priorities. Obviously, we should prioritise the two most critical and elusive issues of Human Elephant Conflict (HEC) and Elephant Conservation (EC).

In my view, the road map should inter-alia focus on the following home truths and remedial action.

1) Sri Lanka being a small island nation, the available habitat for human beings, fauna and flora is very limited.

2) The ever-growing populations of humans and elephants who occupy this small land mass, together consume its limited food and environmental resources, converting HEC to a perennial problem.

3) Since EC is also of crucial importance, a delicate equilibrium has to be struck between poor humans and wild elephants.

4) For this purpose, the research priority would be to ascertain the existing area-wise, elephant population (both tame and wild) and thereafter determine the country’s optimum area-wise carrying capacity of elephants considering the main variables such as their food and habitat availability, growing elephant and human population and mortality rates. Factors such as clearing of jungles for increasing human habitat and food cultivation including reforestation too have to be reckoned.

This research finding should lead to the determination of the optimum number of elephants required for country’s EC at least for a period of 10 years. In the event of elephant population exceeding this number, the excess numbers can be exported to needy countries.  

More importantly, the following benefits will accrue to the people and the country.

1) Redeeming those poor farmers from their present plight of misery through a short-term relocation exercise of the elephants as a preliminary measure for the research.

2) Additional availability of safe habitable and cultivable land to the increasing human population in the medium and long term.

3) Saving considerable volumes of Jungle vegetation and food crops, leading to preservation of the forest cover, Reforestation, expansion of food crop production and improvement of the economy of rural poor.

4) Reduction of wasteful foreign exchange on electrical fences, elephant-chasing crackers, anaesthetics and manpower, etc.

5) The savings can partly be utilised to Catch, tame and export the elephant surplus.

I am confident that the above mentioned export strategy can lead to solving many of the practical problems of HEC and EC while helping to alleviate the country’s debt repayment problems too in the medium and the long term.

Bernard Fernando,

Moratuwa