Wildlife Dept to conduct elephant census | Page 2 | Sunday Observer

Wildlife Dept to conduct elephant census

24 January, 2021

The Secretary, Ministry of Wildlife Conservation, Bandula Harischandra said the Department of Wildlife Conservation will conduct an islandwide elephant census this year to determine the exact number of elephants in the country. The last elephant census was conducted in 2011 and it was estimated that Sri Lanka had 5,179 elephants. The census that was to be conducted in 2019 was not held, he said.

Sri Lanka topped world headlines last year when it was revealed in Parliament that Sri Lanka had the highest number of elephant deaths due to the human-elephant conflict. Although the average number of elephant deaths due to the human-elephant conflict is 272 per year, 407 elephants had died during the past year it was revealed. The new census is expected to support conservation efforts of the Sri Lankan elephant.

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