Around 30% of Sri Lanka’s elephants are unable to hear, with the use of substandard “elephant crackers” contributing to the problem, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Namal Karunaratne has claimed.
Karunaratne made the remarks at an event to hand over motorcycles to wildlife officers, while discussing the growing human-wildlife conflict involving elephants, monkeys, wild boar, porcupines and peacocks.
He said the human-monkey conflict had become more severe than the human-elephant conflict in some areas, while stressing that the wider conflict was causing serious damage to agricultural production.
He said farmers were seeing their crops destroyed by wild animals, creating a significant challenge for the country’s agricultural production.
Karunaratne also highlighted the harm caused to wildlife, particularly elephants, through shooting and other human activities, noting that many animals suffer injuries and carry bullets in their bodies.
He said loud blasts from elephant crackers can affect elephants, including young calves, and claimed that some elephants eventually lose their ability to hear.
Karunaratne said the availability of food and water in villages, combined with their scarcity in forests, was a key reason wild animals enter human settlements.
He stressed that ensuring sufficient food and water within forest habitats was essential to reducing human-wildlife conflict. (Newswire)