Reuters · October 14, 2026

Sri Lanka Encounters Killed an Average of 138 People and 402 Elephants Per Year Since 2019, Report States

• An average of 138 people have been killed in encounters with elephants each year in Sri Lanka since 2019, and elephant deaths averaged 402 per year during the same period, according to the report.
• Elephant deaths reached 488 in 2023, according to the Department of Wildlife Conservation, cited in the report.
• An electric fence stretches 14 km (9 miles) along the Siyambalangamuwa reservoir to protect more than 2,000 families in nearby villages, according to the report.
• Sri Lanka's forest cover is about 34% today, down from roughly 70% in the 1920s, World Bank data shows, according to the report; as many as 70% of the estimated 7,451 wild elephants live outside protected areas, according to census data cited in the report.

Death, fence, forest-cover and population figures via the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the World Bank and census data, cited in the original report. Original headline: "In Sri Lanka, human-elephant conflict takes deadly toll".