Human-elephant conflict -No winners only losers

The ongoing human - elephant conflict continues unabated. Even after 70 years of independence, the rulers of our land don’t seem to have a clue as to how the problem can even be managed, leave alone find a permanent solution to the problem.

Elephants continue intruding into human settlements. As do the expansion of human activities into areas set apart for the denizens of the wild.

The damage caused when elephants intrude into human habitations is not limited to physical damage to crops, homes and livelihood. The mental scars remain long after.

The ongoing drought has worsened this situation. Last week, outlying villages in the Serunuwara area saw an invasion of wild elephants into cultivated areas and homes alike.

In an effort to ward off intrusions, villagers are forced to stay awake at night, light fires around their homes and keep flares and

Story and pix by Ishanka Sunimal.

crackers ready to scare the beasts away. The prevalence of large numbers of mosquitoes adds to the difficulties. The lack of sleep and continuous suspense these villagers face day-in-and-day-out is taking its toll on their ability to attend to their agricultural activities as they live in fear of possible elephant attacks.

During the past weeks subsistence f a r mers in t he Serunuwara- Habarana area faced a number of intrusions from herds of wild elephants.

Sunday Times photographer Ishanka Sunimal was able to capture one such raid, the fear of the villagers and the destruction caused to house and property.

A woman screams in fear as she sees an elephant approaching her home

A young woman lights a fire beside her home to keep both elephants and mosquitoes at bay

After having their fill the elephants leave the village in the early hours of the morning

Some of the damage caused by the maurading herd

A lone pachyderm chomps his way through ripened paddy fields