Sri Lanka’s Elephant Conflict Kills 138 People Yearly

Human-elephant conflict is taking a deadly toll in Kenya and Sri Lanka. In Kenya, two herders were killed in separate elephant attacks while tending livestock in Samburu and Garissa counties. In northwestern Sri Lanka, shrinking forests and expanding human activity are pushing elephants into villages, where electric fencing is used to protect residents. Since 2019, Sri Lanka has averaged 138 human deaths and 402 elephant deaths annually in these encounters, with elephants also killed by shootings, poisoning, electrocution and other hazards. The conflict threatens rural communities as well as a culturally significant species that is important to the country’s tourism industry.