One quiet morning in Kanagarayam, a forest-fringed village in Pottuvil, Sri Lanka, a majestic 20-year-old wild elephant wandered through its familiar terrain, unaware that death lay just steps ahead. In a tragic instant, the animal was electrocuted by an illegal high-voltage fence installed by a farmer desperate to protect his rice fields. The elephant collapsed where it stood, lifeless. Even more disturbing, a similar incident had occurred just a day earlier in the same area, claiming the life of another pachyderm.

These are not isolated incidents. They are symbols of a much deeper and growing crisis that cuts across South Asia, one of increasing conflict between humans and elephants, and of the fragile coexistence between rural communities and wildlife in an age of vanishing habitats.

South Asia is home to the largest population of Asian elephants, with India accounting for approximately 60% of the global total. Yet, despite their cultural and ecological importance, elephants across the region are under severe threat. Habitat fragmentation, rapid urbanisation, deforestation, and intensifying human encroachment have pushed these intelligent and sensitive animals into dangerous proximity with human settlements.

Caught between survival and self-preservation, local communities are resorting to extreme, and sometimes illegal, measures like improvised electric fences to protect their livelihoods from crop-raiding elephants. While some of these fences are legal, most are not regulated or safely constructed, leading to a surge in elephant casualties.

This uneasy clash between man and elephant is no longer an occasional tragedy it is fast becoming one of South Asia’s most pressing conservation challenges. And at its heart lies a complex question: Can humans and elephants continue to share the same land, or are we witnessing the slow unraveling of a co-existence that has lasted for centuries?

Why Elephants Are So Important in India and Sri Lanka?

Elephants are more than just animals in India and Sri Lanka, they are a vital part of culture, religion, and national pride.

• In India, the elephant is the national heritage animal. They appear in ancient stories, religious festivals (like the famous temple festivals in Kerala with decorated elephants), and art. Elephants represent wisdom, power, and a connection with nature in many Indian traditions.

• In Sri Lanka, with around 7,500 estimated number of elephants, the animal hold a significant importance and is protected by law. The annual Esala Perahera festival in Kandy is one famous example, where elephants play a key ceremonial role.

Despite this respect, elephants face grave threats. India is home to over 50% of Asia’s wild elephants, making it the most important country for their survival. Sri Lanka has its own unique subspecies of Asian elephant, numbering fewer than 7,000 in the wild but some experts believe the actual number may be lower due to threats like poaching and accidents.

These elephants play important roles in their ecosystems. They help maintain forests by dispersing seeds of many plant species, creating clearings that encourage new growth, and even digging for water during dry seasons. Losing elephants would not just be a loss of culture but also a serious ecological disaster.

Understanding Why People and Elephants Come Into Conflict

The growing conflict between humans and elephants comes down to a few major issues:

1. Loss and Fragmentation of Habitat

Elephants need large, uninterrupted spaces to find food, water, and safe places to raise their young. Unfortunately, forests and wild areas are rapidly disappearing as people build farms, roads, factories, and cities. This forces elephants into smaller, broken patches of forest, reducing the natural places they can live and travel safely.

2. Elephants Searching for Food in Farmlands

As forests shrink, wild plants and natural food become scarcer. Hungry elephants turn to nearby farms where crops like rice, bananas, and sugarcane provide easy meals. But this causes financial losses for farmers, leading to increased tensions.

3. Dangerous Human Structures and Fences

To protect crops, farmers often use fences, trenches, barbed wire, and electric fences. While proper fences can keep elephants away without hurting them, many are illegal or poorly built. Some fences are called “high voltage traps” because they deliver deadly electrical shocks connected directly to power lines. These fences are not designed or regulated and kill elephants instantly.

4. Unregulated Land Use and Development

Often, elephant corridors, natural routes that elephants follow when migrating or moving between feeding areas are disrupted by roads, railways, and new construction. Without these safe passages, elephants are forced into human settlements or dangerous traffic zones, increasing the chances of fatal accidents and conflict.

How Serious Is the Conflict?

The statistics are alarming and tell a clear story of danger and loss:

Key points:

• Electrocution deaths, mainly from illegal or improperly installed fences, make up a large percentage of elephant deaths.

• Human deaths occur due to accidental encounters or defensive attacks by elephants.

• These figures emphasize the deadly nature of the conflict, especially as both elephants and people suffer.

Why Illegal Electric Fences Are Such a Big Danger?

Electric fences can be a helpful tool if used properly. Safely designed fences operate with low voltage, giving animals a brief, harmless shock that discourages them from entering farmland without injury.

But the problem lies with illegal electric fences, common in some rural areas:

• Many fences are wired directly to high-voltage power lines for stronger shocks.

• These fences deliver fatal electrical shocks that kill or severely injure elephants on contact.

• Farmers resort to these fences out of desperation after multiple crop raids.

• Illegal installation is common because there is little awareness or enforcement.

• The danger isn’t just for elephants – humans, livestock, and other wildlife are at risk too.

Enforcement agencies, like Sri Lanka’s Department of Wildlife Conservation and India’s forest departments, face challenges monitoring and removing illegal fences due to limited resources and geography. This creates an ongoing cycle of risk.

Elephant Corridors: A Good Idea with Real Challenges

To help elephants move safely between habitats without disrupting farms or towns, India has invested in creating about 150 elephant corridors across the country.

What Are Elephants Corridors?

Corridors are natural or restored strips of land connecting two or more wildlife habitats. They allow elephants to migrate, find food, and mate without crossing farmlands or roads.

Successes and Difficulties

• Corridors like the Terai Arc Landscape in northern India support elephants traveling across national parks and forests.
• However, many corridors are narrow and sometimes only 100 meters wide and can be encroached on by settlements or agriculture.
• Roads, railways, and electric lines near or inside corridors are still dangerous.
• Governments often take time to protect and maintain these corridors fully, leading to conflicts in “bottleneck” areas.

Community Involvement

Some regions, such as West Bengal, have introduced early warning systems where local villagers or forest workers notify nearby communities when elephants approach, helping people prepare and avoid accidents.

Still, corridors alone cannot stop conflict unless paired with larger habitat protection and reduction in human pressures.

Conflict Leads to Retaliation and More Harm

Unfortunately, the conflict between human and elephant has led to some dark outcomes:

• Some farmers deliberately use fences or traps designed to kill the elephant as punishment for crop damage.

• Poisoning, shooting, and setting bombs (locally called “jaw bombs”) are cruel methods sometimes used.

• Stress from conflict causes elephant to behave aggressively, attacking people or damaging property.

• In certain cases, authorities consider capturing and relocating “problem” elephants or confining them in captivity, which raises ethical and welfare concerns.

These desperate measures further threaten elephant populations and increase the chances of dangerous encounters.

What Is Being Done, and What More Can Help?

Governments, NGOs, and communities are working on various solutions to reduce conflict and promote coexistence:

Community-Based Early Warning Systems

Training locals to track elephant and communicate movements helps villages prepare and avoid surprise encounters.

Legal Regulation and Safer Fencing

Programs promote the use of registered electric fences designed to scare elephant safely without injury. Authorities are encouraged to crack down on illegal wiring and educate farmers.

Restoration and Protection of Corridors

Efforts are underway to buy out or relocate settlements inside corridors, restore forests, and connect habitats for freer elephant movement.

Alternative, Non-Harmful Deterrents

• Beehive fences: Elephant tend to avoid bees, so strings of beehives around farms can keep them away.

• Chili-based repellents: Applying chili powder or sprays acts as a natural deterrent.

• Acoustic devices: Sounds that elephant dislike are being tested and show promise.

Compensation and Livelihood Support

To reduce resentment, governments often pay compensation for crop losses or damage. Programs also encourage elephant-friendly farming techniques or alternative income options.

What Must Change for True Coexistence?

To keep elephant safe and reduce harm to people, several bigger changes are necessary:

• Stronger Enforcement: Authorities need better equipment, manpower, and laws to halt illegal fences quickly and punish offenders.

• Involve Local Communities: People living near elephant should be part of decisions, benefiting from conservation and protecting their farms safely.

• Landscape-Level Planning: Agricultural expansion, roads, and cities must be planned considering elephant habitats and migration pathways.

• Promote Awareness and Education: Building empathy and understanding in communities helps reduce fear and hostility.

The heartbreaking death of elephant like the one in Potuvil is a wake-up call. These gentle giants have survived for thousands of years alongside humans, woven into the culture, mythology, and natural balance of South Asia.

But today, they face growing threats from shrinking habitats, dangerous human-made barriers, and escalating conflict. Without wiser planning, better laws, and respect for both human needs and wildlife, these majestic animals could vanish.

We must find ways to live together and helping elephants roam safely while protecting farmers’ livelihoods. It will take kindness, cooperation, and long-term commitment from governments, communities, and individuals.

If we act now, future generations in India and Sri Lanka will continue to see elephants in the wild and not just as symbols or stories, but as living, thriving parts of our shared world.