Sri Lanka, April 16 -- The elephant is part of our culture. Sri Lankans have a responsibility to protect wildlife. However, when the elephant population thrives, the habitats that are situated close to or overlap with human living space may not be able to fully support their survival: which creates problems. When the needs and behaviours of wildlife have a negative impact on human interests, human-wildlife conflicts develop.

Many studies have found that the frequency of conflicts between people and wildlife and economic losses are increasing. In my travels to many regions, the villagers expressed their attitude towards elephants. Most of them had a favourable attitude towards elephants, and did not want to see any serious harm to the ele...