Sri Lanka deploys 4,700 personnel to tackle human-elephant conflict

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Sri Lanka deploys 4,700 personnel to tackle human-elephant conflict

Source: Xinhua | 2025-02-28 | Editor:Jennifer

Sri Lanka has deployed over 4,700 Civil Security Force personnel to safeguard electric fences established to mitigate human-elephant conflict, Minister of Environment Dammika Patabendi told the parliament on Thursday.

The minister said that from 2015 to 2024, successive governments have spent 906 million rupees (approximately 3.1 million U.S. dollars) on constructing elephant fences. During this period, 5,612 km of electric fences have been built.

Over the past decade, 3,477 wild elephants and 1,190 people lost their lives due to human-elephant conflicts, while electric fences remain a key measure in controlling this crisis, he added.

According to Patabendi, 43 elephants and three people died last month as a result of such conflicts.