Wild elephants killed
How many wild elephants died in a year — mostly from conflict with people.
Source: Department of Wildlife Conservation (Sri Lanka) · As of 2025 · Provisional · View source
Chart of Wild elephants killed over time. 227 deaths (2010) → 455 deaths (2025).
Table
| Period | deaths |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 227 |
| 2011 | 255 |
| 2012 | 250 |
| 2013 | 206 |
| 2014 | 239 |
| 2015 | 205 |
| 2016 | 279 |
| 2017 | 256 |
| 2018 | 258 |
| 2019 | 405 |
| 2020 | 318 |
| 2021 | 375 |
| 2022 | 439 |
| 2023 | 488 |
| 2024 | 388 |
| 2025 | 455* |
Sri Lanka's current situation
In 2025, 455 deaths wild elephants died — 67 deaths compared with the year before.
What is it?
The number of wild elephant deaths recorded by the Department of Wildlife Conservation in a year. Most are linked to human–elephant conflict — gunshots, electrocution, trains, poison and 'hakka patas' (jaw bombs) — as farms and settlements spread into elephant habitat.
A simple example
In 2023, 488 wild elephants died — more than one every single day.
What happens when it is high
Rising deaths signal worsening conflict: shrinking habitat, crop raids and retaliation. The same conflict kills people too — around 150–190 a year recently. Losing elephants also harms the forests and the tourism that depend on them.
What happens when it is low
Falling deaths can reflect better protection: electric fences around villages rather than forests, protected corridors, early warnings and fast compensation for farmers. A single year's drop can also reflect differences in counting.
What is a healthy range
There is no "safe" number. Conservation aims for a steady fall in conflict deaths of both elephants and people. No rating is applied.
What might happen next
Official projections
No data yet
Simple statistical trend
No data yet
Improving: village-perimeter fencing, corridors and land-use planning reduce conflict. Worsening: habitat loss, crop raids and retaliatory killing push deaths up.
A simple statistical trend, not a prediction of what will happen. Forecasts are uncertain and are not financial advice.
For experts
Sri Lanka is home to about 10% of the world's Asian elephants and has one of the highest elephant death tolls from human conflict anywhere.
How we calculate this
Annual count of wild elephant deaths recorded by the Department of Wildlife Conservation, as published. Totals differ between sources and cut-off dates; every point links to the source it was taken from.