This video is a CCTV capture from last night in Galkadawala village, when a small group of three elephants broke through the electric fence, and walked along the main road, feeding in village home gardens and finally breaking into a paddy store in one of the village houses.

Our village has seen a marked increase in elephant activity in the last few months. A small herd of fifteen to twenty animals have been regularly spotted crossing the road between the village and Palugaswewa, most recently a few days ago.  The electric fences installed around the village a few years ago have proved to be ineffective,  and are regularly breached. A friend who is an authority on elephant behaviour explained that elephants become habituated to permanent fences and find ways of disabling them. At Far Cry we have had first had experience of this recently.

What triggers these localised movements? My friend explained that small groups from the large gathering at Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks disperse into the surrounding villages when water levels in the two tanks increase, either due to the release of water for cultivation, or due to heavy rains. With the onset of the monsoon, and the ongoing “Maha” cultivation in progress, we can expect to see more elephant  activity in and around our village.

Understanding the behaviour of these gentle giants, and learning to co-exist with them is the only solution to the so called Human Elephant Conflict. Follow this link to learn more about what is being done – https://ejustice.lk/proposal-to-mitigate-thehuman-elephant-conflictin-sri-lanka/