Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Contributing to the vicious circle is unfortunate behaviour on both sides. Electric fences
installed in the national parks to contain elephants have been knocked down by farmers
seeking to graze their cattle illegally on park land. Elephants leave the parks through the
compromised fences and bedevil the farmers. Also, as can be seen at Uda Walawe Nation-
al Park, vendors have set up fruit stands where the park borders the highway, so that tour-
ists can feed the elephants. An increasing number of elephants now hang out all day by the
roadside waiting for their tasty handouts. The idea of actually foraging for their normal
diet is soon forgotten.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
The International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species
counts over 60 species in Sri Lanka as either critically endangered or endangered. They
include the Asian elephant, purple-faced langur, red slender loris and toque macaque. All
five of Sri Lanka's marine turtle species are threatened, as are the estuarine crocodile
and the mild-mannered dugong, all of which are killed for their meat. Also under threat
are several species of birds, fish and insects.
Possible Solutions
Some people are looking for long-term solutions to the conflict. One involves fencing hu-
mans in; or, rather, elephants out of human areas. This approach has been proven effective
by the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society, an award-winning wildlife conservation
group. Another is to give farmers alternative livelihood solutions and land practices that
incorporate elephants. The collection and commercial use of elephant dung is one such
possible enterprise (you can see the resulting products at the Cottage Craft shop in Co-
lombo). Spreading around the economic benefits that come from scores of visitors coming
to see elephants is another solution.
The site of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's last stand, Mullaitivu, in the far north-
east, was in 2010 turned from a former theatre of war in to Sri Lanka's newest protected
area: Mullaitivu National Park.
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