In Sri Lanka, humans and elephants are locked in a deadly standoff

In Sri Lanka, humans and elephants are locked in a deadly standoff

Clad in his khaki wildlife officer's uniform, Dewagiri Mudiyanselage Thilakaratne Bandara, 48, leaves home for the short trip to repair the electric fence — the only thing standing between his village and some 100 wild elephants in the nearby forest reserve.

The fence runs alongside the Siyambalangamuwa tank, a reservoir that elephants, corralled into an ever-shrinking patch of habitat, try to swim across to reach villages in search of food.

The roughly 2,000 families here are on the front line of one of the worst human-elephant conflicts in the world.

Sri Lanka records the highest number of elephant deaths annually and the second-highest number of human deaths from the conflict.

Since 2019, an average of 370 elephants and 125 people have been killed each year. In 2025, the country recorded a record 397 wild elephant deaths, according to Department of Wildlife Conservation data. Of those, 71 were shot, 56 were electrocuted by poorly maintained fences and power lines, and 46 were killed in train collisions.

REUTERS VIDEO

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