The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) has, through pressure from the government, commenced large scale elephant drives once more. They are trying to drive approximately 150 elephants from an area of high Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC), the Kurunegala and Anuradhapura Districts, to the Wilpattu National Park. Currently, some of these elephants have taken refuge in the National Livestock Development Board farm at Oyamaduwa and others have gone into locations that didn’t have elephants. With no ready sources of food, they are starving and greatly stressed. This will only increase HEC in those areas.

To read the full story visit https://groundviews.org/2025/01/08/driving-elephants-is-it-mitigation-or-extinction/

Photo credits: WNPS