Handling Human-Animal Conflict in Sri Lanka

Save the wildlife of Sri Lanka!

The beautiful island of Sri Lanka is home to a wide variety of animals, big and small. Many of these creatures are endangered or threatened. This tropical island in the Indian Ocean, one of the best places for spotting wildlife, has many animals that need to be saved.

Endangered animals of Sri Lanka
The biggest example of human-animal conflict in Sri Lanka is the human-elephant conflict. The Sri Lankan elephant is the largest land mammal in Sri Lanka, but is threatened due to habitat loss, illegal hunting and humans moving into their area. This is not only a danger to the animals but humans are also affected severely as elephants can be extremely aggressive. Hundreds of elephants and people have died due to this conflict. The main precaution people are using is electric fences around crops of forest area. Fortunately there is a great effort to save elephants in Sri Lanka.

A rat snake in a tea plantation, killed by the tea plantation owners.

Another endangered Sri Lankan animal is the beautiful and rare Sri Lankan Leopard. Leopards in Sri Lanka have been found to be extremely adaptive, as seen in the Kandy area of Sri Lanka. They often come from the forest to the city to hunt down dogs or cattle. Leopards can be snared in traps and be killed. They rarely attack and kill people. There have been a number of leopard attacks on humans in Sri Lanka, especially in the area near Horton Plains National Park.
Many other animals like deer, wild boar, pangolin, hares and porcupines are killed and eaten in Sri Lanka. Jackals, mongoose and civets kill poultry and small domestic animals like rabbits and guinea pigs. Snakes like cobras, vipers and kraits kill hundreds of Sri Lankans each year. Monkeys raid houses and damage rooftops. Civets spread rabies and raid rooftops, porcupines, hares and bandicoot rats destroy crops and crocodiles kill massive numbers of Sri Lankans. Avoiding human-animal conflict the electric fence is an effective method. It prevents animals entering premises. However there are records of elephants managing to destroy electric fences. Build strong chicken coops to avoid raids from animals like mongoose. If you have a big garden, clear the grass to avoid snakes residing in your area. If a monitor lizard is in your garden, do not try to attack it with a stick. Some lizards will flee, but occasionally they will start to hiss and attack. Don’t swim in waters which are located in forests unless allowed. Aquatic snakes could bite you, water monitor lizards could brutally maul you and crocodiles could easily kill you. Making a strong fence will avoid porcupines from raiding your garden but for a short time only as these creatures are expert diggers. Avoid killing snakes which enter your home. At night, if you are driving through a village, be alert. Urban wildlife including porcupines, mongoose, civets, frogs and snakes are active, and if you aren’t looking you might crush them. On the Sri Lankan highway, look out for peacocks. They might suddenly fly at a vehicle and damage the car. Sri Lanka is home to a variety of wildlife. Let us try to protect its beautiful wildlife forever.

K. Dulain Sasnula (Grade 6)
Horizon College Int., Malabe