Elephantine misconceptions
From human-elephant conflict to human-elephant coexistence People and elephants have lived in harmony for millennia. So, why has the human-elephant conflict escalated lately? With the liberation of the East, as more protected areas have become accessible, reports of conflicts have invariably increased, coupled with the undue publicity given by some media to such unfortunate confrontations, giving the false impression that conflicts have increased in number. Although there undoubtedly may be an increase in the number of incidents, there are many misconceptions regarding our gentle giants. Apart from the irresponsible conduct of some media, in providing unnecessary publicity to human-elephant conflict incidence, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Patali Champika Ranawaka identified that the increased number of recorded elephant deaths due to the increase of veterinary surgeons gives the false impression that conflict has escalated. “New counts in newly liberated areas like Ba...