Elephantine errors: ‘All efforts towards resolving human-elephant conflict have failed’

By Sapumal Jayasena
The human-elephant conflict is now probably at its most critical stage in Sri Lankan history. Around 15 elephants have lost their lives during the past week, along with a number of humans who have become victims of elephant attacks.
Below is a breakdown of the number of elephants killed during the past six years due to the prevailing conflict.
Year Number of elephant deaths
2005 123
2006 163
2007 189
2008 224
2009 228
2010 250

The statistics clearly show that the number of elephant deaths is increasing each year. It is expected that the number at the end of this year would end up surpassing the deaths in 2010. However, an officer of the Department of Wildlife Conservation said that the actual number of elephant deaths may well be higher as there are deaths that go unreported.

A herd of elephants that raided a village in the North Central province recently is estimated to have caused some Rs.10 million in damages to local crops and property in a two-day rampage. Meanwhile a blind tusker referred to as ‘Dala Poottuwa’ attacked 49 vehicles along the Dambulla-Kekirawa road, and the arrival of another herd has caused disruption to the day-to-day lives of the people of Mahiyangana.

Around 50 to 70 people die every year due to attacks by elephants, while enormous damage is caused to crops and property. The Department of Wildlife Conservation is the authority that is vested with the responsibility of looking into the human-elephant conflict, along with elephant conservation. However, the director of the department in a statement claims that it is almost impossible to solve the problem without the support of other relevant organisations and the public.

Chairman of the Centre for Conservation and Research, Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando, who has conducted research for over 20 years on elephant conservation, is of the view that all efforts that the government has undertaken throughout history in terms of the human-elephant conflict and elephant conservation have been failures.
Minister of Agrarian Services and Wildlife S. M. Chandrasena, addressing the media recently, said that in 1950, the total forest cover of the country was 40%, and its elephant population was 3,000. However, by 2010, that forest cover had dwindled by 20% while the elephant population had doubled to 6,000.
Speaking further on the issue, Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando set out the steps taken to resolve the human-elephant conflict.

1. Tranquilising dangerous elephants, then transporting and releasing them into forest reserves (relocation).
2. Driving away elephant herds towards forest reserves.
3. Erecting electric fences along the borders of forest reserves.
Dr. Prithiviraj believes that all three of these steps are failures.
“Mostly, it is the lone elephant that is most aggressive and causes most problems. They tranquilise these animals and release them into some forest reserve situated some 150 to 200 kilometres from their original location. These forest reserves have plenty of food and water, as well as other elephant herds. And yet, the elephants relocated this way still end up coming back to their original habitats some weeks afterwards,” Dr. Prithiviraj says.

He points out that this is clearly visible when one studies the patterns shown in the GPS trackers that have been attached to these elephants. He also states that there have been occasions where elephants returning this way, attacking and killing people along the way. Currently, 25 to 30 elephants are relocated each year to forest reserves.

Another step taken towards resolving the human-elephant conflict is driving around 300 to 400 elephants who are part of many different herds, towards forest reserves. This is a massive operation that takes several months and the collective efforts of hundreds of wildlife officers.

Commenting on the effectiveness of this strategy, Dr. Prithiviraj states, “Dangerous lone elephants tend to get left behind during such operations. It is from these lone elephants that people are most at risk. Smaller herds also tend to get left behind. On the other hand, what we are doing in such operations is going to the homes of these elephants, setting off thousands of thunder flashes and making an awful racket. This is an extremely cruel act. Baby elephants have been known to die after such operations. Even elephants that haven’t been known to be aggressive end up being dangerous due to such acts, and the aggressive ones simply become even more vicious.”
A project lasting one and a half years and costing Rs. 160 million was undertaken to drive elephant herds away from areas in Hambantota, Weerawila, Mattala, and Ridigama towards Lunugamwehera. However, villagers in these areas say that lone elephants and small herds left behind during the operation are still roaming these areas, and are behaving more aggressively than ever.

“The third option of erecting electric fences along the borders of forest reserves is also a failure. The main problem here is that the fence is being erected along the borders of forest reserves. This means that the forest reserve will be on one side of the fence, while the normal forest is situated on the other side. What should actually happen is that the fence should be built along the border between the forest and the village.
There are also other issues such as the low voltage of the fences, the lack of effective maintenance, and thieves making off with wires used for the fences.” Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando is of the view that support from the villagers should be utilized to maintain electric fences. He also claims that 70% of human deaths caused by elephants are avoidable.

http://www.nation.lk/2011/12/04/eyefea6.htm