Elephant Saviours

Four elephant conservation centres to protect both man and animal

November 18, 2011, 9:42 pm 

The government has started to build four elephant conservation centres
 to end the ongoing human - elephant conflicts. Four centres bordering
 national parks in Sri Lanka would be future homes to prevent elephants
 trespassing into villages, W. S. P Pathirathne, deputy director of the
Wildlife Conservation Department told media. 

There is a vast increase in the number of incidents of human - elephant
conflicts which had resulted in the killing of both humans and elephants,
especially in the rural parts of the country, Pathirathne was quoted as
saying by the Xinhua news agency. 

Strong physical barriers are to be built around the conservation centres
to prevent these animals trespassing in to villages. 

"We have planned to build grasslands and waterways which are essential
 for elephant existence in these conservation centres," Pathirathne said. 

"Translocation of elephants in various national parks, which we did earlier
has proved a failure as elephants manage to return to their original
 inhabitants walking many kilometers. In unfamiliar environments,
elephants have become more aggressive and this has worsened
 the conflicts," he said. 

The project is to cost a massive sum as one kilometer of the physical
barrier would cost around 90,000 U.S. dollars. 

Sri Lanka has the highest density of wild elephants in the Asian continent
 he said adding that the recent elephant census revealed there are 5,879
 elephants in the country.