On the island of Sri Lanka, also called the pearl of India, the human-elephant conflict is a major problem. In the past 15 years, an average of 130 elephants and 65 people have been killed each year because humans and animals “get in each other’s way. Currently, there are about 4,500 elephants living on the island. With such large annual losses, the elephant population is seriously threatened.
As one of the measures, the ‘Biodiversity & Elephant Conservation Fund’ has created an awareness program for elementary school children in the areas of human-elephant conflict.
The Biodiversity & Elephant Conservation Trust made presentations to over a thousand schools in Sri Lanka in 2010. The theme, as in previous years, was elephants in conjunction with the needs of the human population in areas where elephants still exist. The destruction of crops by elephants and related confrontations continue to claim human and elephant lives. The sessions at the schools address ways in which humans and elephants can live in harmony. Schools near the corridor areas are especially visited.
